Maruti Suzuki plans to advance capacity expansion program  

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., the country’s biggest carmaker by sales, said it is working toward advancing a capacity expansion program to meet rising demand in this fast-growing market for automobiles. The local unit of Suzuki Motor Corp. announced in January a plan to increase the capacity at its Manesar factory in the northern state of Haryana by 250,000 cars a year by April 2012. Maruti planned to invest Rs17 billion (US$367.19 million) on the project to raise its annual capacity to 1.25 million cars. “I am working with my team to see by how much we can advance the plant commissioning,” Shinzo Nakanishi, Maruti’s managing director, said at a news conference to introduce a new version of the company’s highest-selling model, the Alto small car, with a more powerful and fuel-efficient engine. (August 4, 2010)