Significant opportunity for India: Maruti Suzuki CEO

New Delhi: There is a significant opportunity for India to emerge as a trusted manufacturing and supply chain hub in the global automotive ecosystem, as cost is no longer the sole priority — reliability and operational continuity are now just as vital, Maruti Suzuki India MD and CEO Hisashi Takeuchi said on Wednesday.

In a bid to truly strengthen the industry's competitiveness, products made in India must be able to compete with the best in the world and "require quality to become our signature", Takeuchi said, while addressing the annual session of Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA).

"The last decade taught us how to withstand disruption. The next decade must help us become stronger because of disruption," he said.

To move in that direction, Takeuchi said there are four important enablers for the Indian automotive industry -- deep localisation, people, collective learning, and technology. "Fortunately, the conditions for deeper localisation have never been more favourable," he said, adding global supply chains are being reconfigured. "Cost is no longer the only consideration. Reliability and continuity have become equally important. This creates a significant opportunity for India to emerge as a trusted manufacturing and supply chain hub," Takeuchi noted.

The government's policy support to the industry has helped in creating opportunities to build capabilities in critical areas and reduce strategic dependencies, he noted.

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