India's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki and Suzuki Motor are in process to develop low-cost hybrid compact cars as they are determined to maintain their strong positions in the Indian market with eco-friendly vehicles expecting success.
Referring small power packed cars with hybrid technology as “an area of big interest" for both the firms- Maruti & Suzuki, Maruti Suzuki India Chairman R C Bhargava said’ “they were trying to exploit the space for small cars with green technology whereas; big companies like Toyota are focusing on bigger cars.”
Coming up with this unique idea, "In India it makes sense for hybrid technology for the smaller car because today globally there is no hybrid technology for small cars or low-cost car and that I think it needs to be developed. We, Maruti and Suzuki, are working on it," Bhargava said.
Expecting a fleet of over 15 models, MSI currently commands 47 per cent of the Indian passenger vehicles market. The Indian market will have 20 lakh units annually to sell by 2020. It is expected to produce 16 lakh units.
When asked about the performance Bhargava said, "We will have to first look at the response for Baleno. It usually takes a year after the start of exports to ascertain the response for a particular model in a country,". Moreover Baleno is first model to get exported to Japan. As Japan has been traditionally a difficult market for foreign automobile makers to sell their products, but this time Maruti Suzuki achieved a great success by exporting around 2,300 India-made Baleno hatchbacks to the Japanese market.
