Maruti Suzuki joins the million vehicle club

Maruti Suzuki India Limited, the nation's number one car manufacturer, today rolled out its millionth vehicle in the current financial year 2009-10, joining a select club of global automobile manufacturers. Maruti also became the first automobile company in India to manufacture a million cars in one year.

The millionth car manufactured in 2009-10, a glistening red Maruti Suzuki Swift, rolled out from the company's Manesar plant, in the presence of Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and union minister of heavy industries and public enterprises Vilasrao Deshmukh.

Japanese ambassador to India Hideaki Domichi, Suzuki Motor Corporation chairman and CEO Osamu Suzuki and other senior management of the company as also senior officials of the central and state governments and company's business associates were also present at the ceremony.

The car major also laid the foundation stone for a new plant at Manesar with a planned capacity expansion of 2.5 lakh units annually. This initiative will help the company scale up the Manesar plant's capacity from 300,000 units per annum to 550,000 units per annum over the next two years, the company said in a release.

Maruti Suzuki will invest about Rs1,700 crore for this expansion.

Maruti Suzuki has a current production capacity of 1 million vehicles,  including 7 lakh units at its Gurgaon facility and 3 lakh units at its Manesar facility.