Maruti, Toyota To Setup Vehicle Scrappage Plant In India

• As per the alliance, the two carmakers will supply, dismantle and process end-of-life vehicles, and sell parts generated from the plant.
• Maruti has partnered with Toyota’s subsidiary Toyota Tsusho India for the new plant.
• The partnership that commenced in 2017 has extended to share acquisition as well as jointly developing EVs and hybrids.

It is well known that the partnership between two of the world’s largest auto manufacturers Toyota and Suzuki became a reality in 2017, and has recently extended to acquiring each other’s shares. And now, the partnership has taken its next step in India as Maruti Suzuki and Toyota Tsusho India have decided to set up a vehicle dismantling plant in the country.

As per the alliance, the two automotive giants will supply, dismantle and process end-of-life vehicles, and sell scrap and other products generated from the plant. With this, the Maruti-Toyota scrappage partnership will be the second biggest joint venture in the country following the deal between Mahindra and government-owned MTSC. Their recycling plant is situated in Greater Noida.

Even as the government is still to finalise a comprehensive vehicle scrappage policy in India, there is no doubt that scrappage plants are the need of the hour. With Mahindra and now Suzuki-Toyota also setting up their own facilities, the huge demand for vehicle scrappage could be addressed to some extent.

Aside from recycling scrapped vehicles, Maruti Suzuki and Toyota are collaborating on developing EVs as well as sharing hybrids and other vehicles with each other. The first result of this partnership is the Toyota Glanza, which is essentially a rebadged Maruti Baleno.

There is still a long way to go before we see the complete effect of this partnership. Other than the Glanza, further Toyota-Suzuki shared models are in the works like the Toyota-badged Vitara Brezza slated for a 2022 launch in India. The partnership also plans on bringing a rebadged iteration of the Ertiga MPV as well as the Ciaz sedan in the near future. On the other hand, Suzuki is also planning to launch a rebadged version of the Toyota Corolla in India.  Apart from rebadging models, both companies are also expected to jointly develop a C-segment SUV and EVs as part of this collaboration.