Devashish Handa, executive VP of sales and marketing at Suzuki Motorcycle India, told Fe that the business has begun development of its first electric two-wheeler.
However, Handa did not provide a date for the product’s launch because commercial issues such as price and product placement have still to be determined.
“We are at a reasonably advanced stage of product development, but the commercial phase is something we have not zeroed in on right now,” Handa said. “All products that Suzuki makes are designed for global markets. They are introduced based on market needs. They are manufactured based on the competitiveness of manufacturing,” he added.
According to Handa, the demand for EVs has hit an inflection point on the scooter side, where the penetration levels had gone up as close to 20% a few months back. In FY24, close to a million electric two-wheelers sold in India.
In terms of production, Handa said that the company is operating at its installed capacity of a million units per year, but since the demand is higher, new capacity will be added.
The company retails, imported and domestically manufactured bikes as well as scooters in India such as – Hayabusa, V-Strom 800DE, Gixxer 250, Access and Burgman amongst others.