Amid Rare Earth Crisis, Maruti Suzuki Revises EV Plans
The auto major is aiming to produce around 8,000 units of the model by September, as against the previous plan of rolling out over 26,000 units during the same period
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
Maruti Suzuki India has cut near-term production targets for its upcoming electric vehicle e-Vitara because of rare earths shortages, according to Reuters.
The auto major is aiming to produce around 8,000 units of the model by September, as opposed to the earlier plan of rolling out over 26,000 units during the same period. The company however plans to make up for the production slump with a target to produce around 67,000 units of the model by FY26. The e-Vitara is crucial to Maruti's EV plans in the country marking its entry in the segment.
Earlier this week, Maruti Suzuki India Chairman R C Bhargava said there will be no impact on the company's production due to the shortage of rare earth magnets as of now. Domestic carmakers are forced to take steps as the Chinese government has put restrictions since April 4 on the export of rare earth elements and related magnets. China controls over 90 percent of global processing capacity for the magnets, used across sectors.
China's export curbs on some rare earth have shocked the global auto industry, as companies struggle to maintain supply chains. While some companies in the United States, Europe and Japan are seeing ease of supplies after securing licences from Beijing, India is still waiting for China's approval amid fears of shutting down production. The domestic automobile industry has sought government support in seeking approvals from the Chinese government for importing rare earth magnets used in various applications, including passenger cars.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Optimove Announces Opening of APAC Operations; Appoints Jack Wheeler to Lead the Region
Wheeler brings over a decade of enterprise sales, SaaS innovation, and iGaming leadership experience New York, June 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Optimove, the leader in Positionless Marketing and the #1 player engagement platform in iGaming, today announced that after more than two years of activity in the Asia-Pacific, it has opened operations in the region. iGaming veteran, Jack Wheeler, has been appointed the Head of APAC. Wheeler brings more than ten years of experience in enterprise sales, SaaS innovation, and iGaming. He most recently served as Co-Founder and COO of PRLY, a community-based SaaS platform for the sports and iGaming sectors. His prior roles include leadership positions at Salesforce, where he helped drive APAC initiatives, as well as advisory roles with iGaming syndicates and equity positions in multiple Asia-based iGaming start-ups. 'Jack brings an exceptional mix of entrepreneurial drive, enterprise experience, and regional expertise to Optimove,' said Motti Colman, VP of Revenue at Optimove. 'His deep understanding of both the iGaming and sports industries, paired with his proven ability to scale partnerships in APAC, makes him the ideal leader for our expansion in this fast-growing market.' As Head of APAC, Wheeler will focus on growing Optimove's presence among iGaming operators across the region. 'This is a pivotal moment for iGaming in APAC,' said Wheeler. 'The fast growth across the region, particularly in the Philippines and Malaysia, presents a major opportunity for brands to scale smarter, faster, and more profitably. Optimove's experience in helping operators grow across the globe will be a boon to APAC operators as they map out their strategy. Optimove's Positionless Marketing approach, and the fact that it is the number one engagement platform in iGaming, makes this especially exciting to me.' Optimove's APAC expansion comes in response to rising global demand for unified marketing platforms that combine data, automation, and personalization at scale. By enabling marketers to independently launch personalized, real-time campaigns, Optimove is transforming how iGaming operators grow player relationships and lifetime value. A key offering for the region is Optimove's Ignite+ program. The comprehensive program is designed to accelerate growth for emerging iGaming and sports betting operators. It offers exclusive access to Optimove's #1 Player Engagement Platform, along with expert CRM guidance, actionable insights, and proprietary industry benchmarks. Optimove Ignite+ empowers operators to enhance player engagement, improve marketing efficiency, and scale efficiently in a highly competitive market. In addition to being the APAC Lead, Jack Wheeler is a Senior Account Executive at Optimove. About Optimove Optimove, the leader in Positionless Marketing, frees marketing teams from the limitations of fixed roles, giving every marketer the power to execute any marketing task instantly and independently. Positionless Marketing has been proven to improve campaign efficiency by 88%, allowing marketing teams to create more personalized engagement with existing customers. Recognized as the Visionary Leader in Gartner's 2024 Magic Quadrant for Multichannel Marketing Hubs. Being a visionary leader is a hallmark of Optimove. It was the first CRM Marketing Platform to natively embed AI with the ability to predict customer migrations between lifecycle stages in 2012. Today, its comprehensive AI-powered suite is at the leading edge of empowering marketers to optimize workflows from Insight to Creation and through Orchestration. Optimove provides industry-specific and use-case solutions for leading consumer brands globally. For more information, go to CONTACT: Rob Wyse Optimove +2129201470 Rob_w@ Olivia Arruda Optimove +8585881053 Olivia_a@ Mike Paluszek Optimove 9175539332 Mike_Pa@ produjo un error al recuperar la información Inicia sesión para acceder a tu portafolio Se produjo un error al recuperar la información Se produjo un error al recuperar la información Se produjo un error al recuperar la información Se produjo un error al recuperar la información
Entrepreneur
an hour ago
- Entrepreneur
Paytm Grants INR 215 Crore in Fresh ESOPs
The options were allocated at an exercise price of INR 9 per share, significantly below the company's current market value of INR 906 per share You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. Paytm has issued a new round of employee stock options (ESOPs) worth approximately INR 215 crore, according to a regulatory filing by One97 Communications, the company that operates the fintech platform. The move comes as part of its ESOP 2019 scheme, under which a total of 23,70,790 stock options have been granted. The options were allocated at an exercise price of INR 9 per share, significantly below the company's current market value of INR 906 per share. Each option entitles the holder to one fully paid-up equity share with a face value of INR one. Based on the current market rate, the total value of the allocation is estimated at INR 215 crore. These ESOPs can be exercised at any point during the employee's active tenure with the company, following the vesting period. The scheme also outlines provisions for how options are to be handled in scenarios such as resignation, termination, retirement, death, or permanent incapacity. Further, the company has specified that the equity shares resulting from the exercise of these options will not be subject to any lock-in period. According to the filing, 3,46,746 options have lapsed in accordance with the terms of the ESOP 2019 plan. The company noted that the plan includes mechanisms to adjust the number of stock options in the event of corporate actions such as mergers, stock splits, bonus issues, or divestitures. These adjustments, the filing states, would be "appropriately made, in a fair and reasonable manner." This latest grant comes amid a broader trend of Indian tech firms using ESOPs to retain talent in a competitive market. Paytm's ESOP 2019 scheme is one of its core retention strategies, designed to align long-term employee incentives with shareholder value. The stock options are governed by the rules laid out in the ESOP 2019 plan, which has been previously approved by Paytm's board and shareholders.
Skift
an hour ago
- Skift
Air India's Transformation Faces Major Test After 787 Crash
The cause of Thursday's crash remains unclear, but one thing is certain: Air India faces a critical test in managing the narrative and minimizing unhelpful speculation. Skift's coverage of the Air India crash is offered free to all readers. Thursday's crash of an Air India Boeing 787 jet is a human tragedy. It is also a major reputational test for an airline undergoing the most aggressive reinvention in its history. Flight AI171's planned route from Ahmedabad to London epitomized a bold new chapter for the Indian flag carrier – linking the country's fifth largest city nonstop with the UK capital without the need to change aircraft in Delhi, Mumbai, or the Middle East. The timing could not be worse. Air India is three years into a five-year transformation journey, dubbed Launched in 2022, its goal is to overhaul the fleet, enhance service, and reinvent the airline as a premium international carrier that reflects a new India. In this context, a major crash on an international flight operated by a modern Boeing aircraft is particularly devastating. Speculation Mounts The investigation into the accident is still in its infancy. Much will remain unknown until the flight data recorder, also known as the black box, and the cockpit voice recorder are found and processed. That doesn't diminish the public appetite for answers. Speculation about the cause isn't helpful – but it's a reality Air India must grapple with. In a video statement shared on its X page on Thursday, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson acknowledged the intense speculation. 'The investigations will take time, but anything we can do now, we are doing,' Campbell said. 'We understand that people are eager for information and please know that we will continue to share accurate and timely information as soon as we can. But anything we report must be accurate and not speculative. We owe that to everyone involved.' At the time of publication, no details were available about casualties. Message from Campbell Wilson, MD & CEO, Air India. — Air India (@airindia) June 12, 2025 A Brand Being Rebuilt One of the key promises of was the return of trust. Under decades of government ownership, the Air India brand became a byword for delays, corporate inefficiency, and inferior products. Tata's acquisition and the launch of the new roadmap was a reset button. Globally, the airline had started to regain credibility, with trust in its many forms at the center of the turnaround. Speaking at the Skift India Forum in Delhi in March, Wilson outlined the company's progress: 'The first year was really about triage and stabilizing an airline that was on the verge of collapse. The second year was about capability building, so we could reach the aspirations of growth and quality that we're still working towards. The third year was about growth. Moving forward, it's about consistency, efficiency and profitability, and upgradation of the product.' Thursday's events rip up this corporate trajectory. A carefully choreographed series of brand-building initiatives will be put on hold. Air India will likely enter a period of self-reflection and humility, in sharp contrast to the bullish tone and its growing confidence as the Vihaan turnaround started to bear fruit. Crisis Response Mode Air India's crisis response is also under scrutiny. Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran's swift public statement and the establishment of emergency family support centers show the airline is working hard. But the next 48-72 hours will be critical. Carriers including Malaysia Airlines and Ethiopian Airlines saw their international reputations come under intense pressure after their own tragedies. Air India's communications, transparency in the investigation, and compassion in response will now define not just the short-term news cycle but potentially the long-term impact on its transformation effort. The Air India homepage is black and white after the crash on June 12, 2025. Instead of a chaotic in-person press conference, a somber but clear two-minute statement by Wilson was published on Air India's social media accounts. This allows the company to better define the optics, relay important information to loved ones, as well as present its next steps. Within minutes of being uploaded to X, Wilson's video was broadcast on television news networks, delivering much of the same scope and scale, but with much tighter control. Expect further official announcements to follow this template in the coming hours. What Next? goals are lofty: make Air India a "world-class global airline" within five years. The crash risks reshaping this vision. Amid the human tragedy, there is a real danger that the crash interrupts the psychological momentum of a brand in renewal. Instead of associating Air India with comeback and capability, the public could once again associate it with crisis and chaos. That's a risk the brand cannot afford. The next phases of Air India's transformation will now need to account for the reputational and operational fallout from Thursday's crash. This is a defining moment not just for the airline, but for India's aviation story at large. What am I looking at? The performance of airline sector stocks within the ST200. The index includes companies publicly traded across global markets including network carriers, low-cost carriers, and other related companies. The Skift Travel 200 (ST200) combines the financial performance of nearly 200 travel companies worth more than a trillion dollars into a single number. See more airlines sector financial performance. Read the full methodology behind the Skift Travel 200.
