Hybrid cars for Commonwealth Games

Maruti Suzuki on Tuesday handed over first lot of hybrid cars - 2 Maruti Suzuki SX4 Hybrid and 1 'Eeco Charge' -  for use during the Commonwealth Games, while another lot of eco-friendly cars will be handed over to the Delhi Government soon. 

Maruti Suzuki has made ready a lot of 14 future technology vehicles for use at the Commonwealth Games. These include 10 Maruti Suzuki SX4 Hybrid Cars and 4 Maruti Suzuki ‘Eeco Charge’ vehicles.

“I am happy that engineers at Maruti Suzuki have developed these future technology vehicles. This project has helped our engineers to increase their knowledge and enhance their research and design capability. We are grateful to the government for their leadership to promote green technology in automobiles. We are happy to be associated with the Commonwealth Games national initiative, through these vehicles,” said Maruti Suzuki India Limited Managing Director and CEO Shinzo Nakanishi. 

The demonstration of the fleet of SX4 Hybrids and ‘Eeco Charge’ vehicles at the Commonwealth Games is in line with the ambitious the National Hybrid Propulsion Programme (NHPP) and High Energy Density Battery Development Programme. The development of hybrid and electric vehicles is one of the exciting initiatives undertaken by Maruti Suzuki to enhance its R&D capabilities and gear itself for greener technologies, he said.

The hybrid system used in the SX4 features an electric motor and twin clutch arrangement with advance Lithium-ion battery technology. This concept combines a 1.2 litre K-series petrol engine and a 50 kW electric motor along with 5-speed automated manual transmission. 

The SX4 hybrid offers 25 per cent more fuel efficiency compared to conventional gasoline vehicle. Similarly, ‘Eeco Charge’ is a zero-emission, pure electric vehicle. It is powered by a 50kW motor and a 24kWh Lithium-ion battery. On full charge it promises a driving range of around 100 km and attains top speed of 100 km per hour. 

Source: Thehindu.com

Maruti Getting its first Hires from Detroit

Eight automobile engineers from Detroit, the car capital of the US, will join Maruti Suzuki's operations in India in the next two months, as part of the start of the latter's plan to transform itself as the largest research and development centre for parent Suzuki outside Japan.

"These are engineers with tremendous capabilities in automobile research and engineering. They have specialisation in car design, styling and modeling, engine development and manufacturing, crash testing and hybrid technology," said I V Rao, managing executive officer (engineering) of Maruti Suzuki.

Rao was part of a senior delegation which visited Detroit in April this year to look at the engineers who were laid off following the bankruptcy filings by General Motors and Chrysler . Tata Motors was another domestic passenger vehicle manufacturer to visit Detroit.

The move to hire car engineers and designers from the US is, as mentioned, part of Maruti's bigger plan. On Friday, the company will inaugurate its newly-acquired 700-acre facility for R&D located in Manesar. This is part of the company's Rs 9,000 crore (Rs 90 billion) investment to be completed by 2010. Maruti, currently, employs around 700 employees for its R&D initiatives and hopes to scale it up to 1,000 by 2010.

Most of these fresh recruits leaving the US to join Maruti in India, according to Rao, are engineers of Indian origin. "All the eight engineers have experience in working for GM, Ford and Chrysler. Six of these engineers are Indians who are desirous of leaving the US to work in India. The rest are from places like the UK."

The company said all will be based at the middle management level. Some would be taken on a contractual basis, while the others would be full time hires.

The move to tap advanced automobile markets like the US for top engineering talent by Maruti Suzuki, follows the company's new confidence in designing and manufacturing cars for global markets. In 2008, the company launched its fifth world strategic model, the A-Star , whose designing was largely done at Maruti's facilities in India. Next, came the commissioning of the Euro-V compliant KB series engine facility at Gurgaon. Other credits come from being the second company in the world to comply with stiff recyclable norms which are incorporated in the manufacture of the A-Star model.

Rao said the key reason for hiring talent from overseas markets was not only to increase the headcount of skilled R&D talent, but also to use them to train local engineers who are fresh on the job. Last year, the company spent Rs 9.5 crore (Rs 95 million) on training employees across all levels.

Source: rediff.com