Maruti Suzuki cuts short-term EV production amid rare earths crisis
The setback could also hurt parent Suzuki Motor, for which India is the biggest market by revenue and a global production hub for EVs. Most of the made in India e-Vitaras are earmarked for export by Suzuki to its major markets such as Europe and Japan in summer 2025.
Maruti told reporters last week the rare earths issue had no 'material impact' on the e-Vitara's launch timeline. Chair RC Bhargava said there was 'no impact at the moment' on production, media reported on Monday.
Maruti and Suzuki did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.
Maruti is yet to open bookings for the e-Vitara with some analysts warning it is already late to launch EVs in the world's third-largest car market where Tesla is also expected to begin sales this year.
Under its previous plan 'A', Maruti was to produce 26,512 e-Vitaras between April and September — the first half of the fiscal year. Under the revised plan 'B', it will manufacture 8,221, the document showed, indicating a two-thirds cut in its production schedule.
However, in the second half of the financial year — between October and March 2026 — Maruti plans to ramp up production to 58,728 e-Vitaras, or about 440 per day at its peak, vs a previous target of 40,437 for those six months under plan A.
Two supply chain sources confirmed Maruti's plan to scale back e-Vitara production because of rare earth magnet shortages but were not privy to the numbers.
The rare earths crisis comes as Maruti is grappling to recover market share lost to Tata and Mahindra's feature-rich SUVs. These companies also lead India's EV sales. Maruti's share of India's passenger vehicle market is down to 41% from a recent peak of about 51% in March 2020.
Suzuki has trimmed its sales target for India to 2.5-million vehicles by March 2031 from 3-million previously, and scaled back its line-up of EV launches to four, instead of the six planned before, as competition in the South Asian nation intensifies.
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The setback could also hurt parent Suzuki Motor, for which India is the biggest market by revenue and a global production hub for EVs. Most of the made in India e-Vitaras are earmarked for export by Suzuki to its major markets such as Europe and Japan in summer 2025. Maruti told reporters last week the rare earths issue had no 'material impact' on the e-Vitara's launch timeline. Chair RC Bhargava said there was 'no impact at the moment' on production, media reported on Monday. Maruti and Suzuki did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday. Maruti is yet to open bookings for the e-Vitara with some analysts warning it is already late to launch EVs in the world's third-largest car market where Tesla is also expected to begin sales this year. Under its previous plan 'A', Maruti was to produce 26,512 e-Vitaras between April and September — the first half of the fiscal year. Under the revised plan 'B', it will manufacture 8,221, the document showed, indicating a two-thirds cut in its production schedule. However, in the second half of the financial year — between October and March 2026 — Maruti plans to ramp up production to 58,728 e-Vitaras, or about 440 per day at its peak, vs a previous target of 40,437 for those six months under plan A. Two supply chain sources confirmed Maruti's plan to scale back e-Vitara production because of rare earth magnet shortages but were not privy to the numbers. The rare earths crisis comes as Maruti is grappling to recover market share lost to Tata and Mahindra's feature-rich SUVs. These companies also lead India's EV sales. Maruti's share of India's passenger vehicle market is down to 41% from a recent peak of about 51% in March 2020. Suzuki has trimmed its sales target for India to 2.5-million vehicles by March 2031 from 3-million previously, and scaled back its line-up of EV launches to four, instead of the six planned before, as competition in the South Asian nation intensifies.
