Suzuki to make motorcycles in India by 2005

Putting behind the bitter memory of separation from joint venture partner TVS Motor in 2001, Suzuki Motor Corp. of Japan has announced that it would start motorcycle production in India by 2005 with an investment of $10 million.

"We will start production from the autumn of 2005 in India," Shinzo Nakanishi, who has just been given the charge of the Indian motorcycle venture, told visiting journalists at SMC headquarters here.

SMC was virtually forced to withdraw from its earlier two-wheeler joint venture with the Chennai-based TVS Motor, which was producing two-wheelers under the TVS-Suzuki brand name, and its entry in the same arena was barred for three years as per the existing guidelines in India.

The move assumes significance, as India is the second largest two-wheeler market after China.

SMC, which also acquired management control in its car joint venture Maruti Udyog Ltd from the Indian government last year, will initially look for a capacity of 100,000 two-wheelers per annum for which it plans to pump in $10 million in the very first year to kick start the Indian operation.

Asked if SMC would have some sort of leverage from MUL, which already has the biggest dealer network and other infrastructure facilities along with a marketshare of 54 per cent in the Indian car market, Nakanishi, who is also MUL chairman, said the two-wheeler venture would be an entirely separate entity.