TOKYO Suzuki Motor Corp will invest 4.5 billion yen in research, development and capital spending through fiscal 2030 to make battery electric vehicles EVs, it said on Thursday.
The Japanese automaker said it would invest 2 trillion yen in electrification and autonomous driving technologies, while allocating 2.5 trillion yen to build a battery EV plant and renewable energy facilities.
500 billion yen will be invested in batteries, according to 500 billion yen of the money earmarked for electrification.
Suzuki announced that similar goals were being rolled out by other Japanese automakers to catch up with European and US rivals in the fast-growing battery EV market.
In November of last year, Mazda Motor Corp unveiled a $10.6 billion spending plan to electrify its vehicles.
Suzuki will introduce its first battery EVs, including small sport-utility vehicles and micro kei cars, in Japan in fiscal 2023. With the goal of cost-conscious customers in mind, company president Toshihiro Suzuki said he wanted to sell vehicles for around 1 million yen.
Suzuki plans to introduce battery EVs in Europe and India, and it plans to introduce its first battery electric motorcycles globally in the next year.
The company wants to capture a bigger share of India's budding EV market, gaining a lot of momentum because of its cooperation with Toyota Motor Corp.
Suzuki plans to learn from Toyota on how to use EV technology to make small electric cars, Suzuki said during a visit to India this month.
On Thursday, Toshihiro Suzuki said the automaker was not abandoning hybrid and internal combustion vehicle line-ups, pointing out a lack of charging infrastructure, high EV costs and concerns over limited battery resources.
In India, Suzuki predicted that EVs would make up 15 per cent of its vehicle line-up in fiscal 2030, while internal combustion engine cars using bio fuels and ethanol as fuels would make up 60 per cent.
Toshihiro Suzuki said that we will put in vehicles for various price ranges, for various people, for various regions.