TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp said on Thursday it will invest a total of 4.5 trillion yen ($34.79 billion) in research and development as well as in capital expenditure as part of its growth strategy through fiscal 2030.
The Japanese automaker said it would invest 2 trillion yen to facilitate electrification and autonomous driving technologies, while allocating 2.5 trillion yen to build battery electric vehicle plant and for renewable energy facilities.
Suzuki said it is going to introduce its first battery electric vehicle automobiles in Japan in the financial year 2023, and in the financial year 2024 in Europe and India. It is also seeking to introduce its first battery electric motorcycles globally in financial year 2024.
Suzuki has shown eagerness to leverage its cooperation with car giant Toyota to capture a bigger share of India’s budding EV market, which is gaining momentum.
Suzuki plans to learn from Toyota how to use EV technology to make small electric cars, its president Toshihiro Suzuki said during a visit to India this month, signalling the firm’s readiness to extend its footprint in India’s EV market.
($1 = 129.3500 yen)
(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama and Daniel Leussink; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
