India does not need "protection" to be competitive in global markets post the US' tariffing frenzy, according to Maruti Suzuki India Ltd Chairperson RC Bhargava.
"India can be as competitive as anyone or even better. The more you 'protect', the more we'll relax. So no, we don't need any 'protection'," he said, referring to US tariff measures.
The company's scale-up of its electric and hybrid vehicle production will depend entirely on demand, said the chairperson of the largest automobile manufacturer in India. "We're using one line on the cart. One line normally has the capacity of 2,50,000. How much of that we will use will depend on demand. We'll scale it up if demand grows," he said.
He added that domestic sales are yet to be announced and, till that time, all production will be directed towards exports.
Bhargava emphasised that petrol and diesel are the most polluting among all vehicles. "If you sell petrol and don't sell the other cleaner cars, you're creating more pollution. The ideal thing is to sell as many EVs as you can. But 100% EV is never happening anywhere, even in China. So, for the remaining cars, you should sell cleaner cars rather than petrol and diesel cars," he said.
He argued for tax differentiation between technologies. "In India, petrol and diesel are treated the same as hybrid and CNG. We believe there should be a differentiation based on fuel efficiency and pollution performance. Depending on the performance of the technology, it should get a tax advantage or a disadvantage," he noted.
On global trends, Bhargava pointed out that both electric vehicles and hybrids are selling well across markets. "Whether it's the US or major European countries or even China, EVs and hybrids are both selling, with hybrids being slightly ahead in all countries except China. In China, EVs are ahead of hybrids. Even in China, hybrid sales have accelerated substantially," he said.
He noted that globally there are customers who prefer EVs and those who prefer hybrids, while governments appear largely neutral between the two technologies. However, China bucks the trend, and continues to push EVs more aggressively.
Earlier on Tuesday, the company's share price spiked after Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off Maruti Suzuki's e-Vitara in Gujarat at the end of his two-day visit to the home state.
The prime minister also inaugurated the Suzuki Motor plant in Hansalpur, involved in localised production of hybrid battery electrodes.
The car will be exported to more than 100 countries, including advanced markets such as Europe and Japan. With this milestone, India will now serve as Suzuki's global manufacturing hub for electric vehicles.
Shares of Maruti Suzuki closed 1.85% higher at Rs 14,720 apiece on the NSE, largely outperforming the 1.02% decline in the benchmark Nifty 50.
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