TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Suzuki Motor (7269.T) will start producing electric vehicles in India and export them from there to Japan as early as 2025, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Wednesday.
In a step to make India its global electric car manufacturing hub, Suzuki will also consider supplying India-made EVs to partner Toyota Motor (7203.T) for European markets that would be sold under the Toyota brand, the Nikkei said.
Suzuki declined to comment on the report. Toyota, which owns 4.9% of Suzuki, was not immediately able to comment.
Nikkei said Suzuki will set up a new production line at a plant in India's western state of Gujarat, where its subsidiary Maruti Suzuki (MRTI.NS) would start producing next autumn.
The battery-powered cars that Suzuki plans to export to Japan would be small sports utility vehicles and would have a price tag of around 3 million yen ($20,043) to 4 million yen, Nikkei said.
The production line would also make gasoline-powered cars and would reach an expected capacity of 250,000 units a year, the newspaper added.