Maruti Dzire Production Starts At Suzuki Gujarat Plant – 1st Unit Rolls Out

The third unit of SMG’s Gujarat facility has commenced production

Suzuki Motor Gujarat Pvt. Ltd (SMG) a wholly-owned subsidiary of Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corporation started operations at its 1st Plant in Hansalpur in a bid to aid its Indian subsidiary Maruti Suzuki in meeting the ever increasing demand. In addition to Maruti Suzuki’s Gurgaon and Manesar plants, SMG’s Gujarat facility will play a crucial role in the automaker reaching an installed annual production capacity of 3 million units.

Maruti Dzire production shift

Production of top selling Maruti Dzire compact sedan until now was from Maruti Suzuki’s Manesar plant. From now, it will also be produced at SMG’s Hansalpur facility, which is being expanded. Until now, 1st and 2nd plants at Gujarat are on stream with annual production capacity of 250,000 units each.

Last year, SMG announced that construction of the third plant was complete and production was slated to commence in April 2021. The company has managed to stick to the timeline despite the pandemic induced hurdles.

SMG’s 3rd plant will to cater to Dzire which has been a consistent chart topper for Maruti Suzuki. Just like the first two plants, the third unit will have an installed capacity of 250,000 units per annum. The Gujarat plants currently manufacture the Maruti Baleno, its Toyota sibling (Glanza) and Swift. It remains to be seen if the entire production load of Dzire will be shifted to SMG or Manesar will still continue to contribute partially.

The production capacity freed up due to the shifting of Dzire to SMG would allow Maruti Suzuki to optimize the production of its other vehicles such as Wagon R, Alto, S-Presso, Ignis, S-Cross, Vitara Brezza and so on. We could see some production shifts between the Gurgaon and Manesar facilities in a bid to optimize capacity utilization.

If the automaker splits the production of Dzire between its Gujarat and Manesar facilities, it could offer opportunities to cut down on logistic costs. However, having two separate vendor bases is expected to offset the benefit to some extent if not fully.

Dzire receives minor update

Earlier this month, the Maruti Dzire Vxi mid-variant quietly received an updated audio system which has been borrowed from the Ertiga. There are no other changes to the equipment list but the change has enhanced the overall appearance of the dashboard.

The Maruti Dzire has been the undisputed king of the sub-4m sedan segment, and it has been maintaining its strong run as one of the country’s best selling cars despite the rise of SUVs in the recent times. We expect the sedan to continue its stellar sales performance for a long time to come. Hence, the shift in production is a significant strategic move.