Suzuki Motor Corporation is planning to transform the way it develops vehicles and a half-year reduction in a new Japanese automaker’s time to develop a model by 2030. That will help the company adapt faster to changing customer tastes and manage an increasingly complex portfolio of petrol, CNG, hybrid, flex-fuel and electric vehicles.
It has also outlined broader efficiency targets as part of the transformation. Suzuki wants to improve development efficiency by 30 per cent and production efficiency by 50 per cent. The development efficiency target is based on fiscal 2020, and the production efficiency target is based on operations at Suzuki’s Manesar facility in India.
The announcement comes at a key time for Maruti Suzuki in the midst of a product expansion programme. The Indian automaker will launch nine new models over a three-year period including seven SUVs. A quicker development process would help get them, and future facelifts and derivatives, to markets faster.
Suzuki Wants Engineering And Manufacturing To Work Together
Suzuki’s strategy is to change the traditional sequence of work in a new vehicle from engineering, procurement, production and quality teams who do their job one after another and the company would bring them into the development programme much earlier and more activities would take place at the same time.
Planning, design, manufacturing, quality and procurement teams are expected to work together from earlier stages of a vehicle programme. Digital engineering and virtual development tools will also play a bigger role.
The goal is to find technical or manufacturing problems before a vehicle gets to the physical testing and production stages. Early detection of a problem can help prevent delays later on when changes in suppliers, components, tooling or manufacturing processes affect suppliers, components or tooling or manufacturing processes.
The approach will also make use of common vehicle modules and shared technologies. Suzuki can potentially reduce the work required for each new model by reusing some of the existing components and engineering solutions.
Maruti Suzuki Is Already Working On A Faster Development Cycle
Suzuki’s global target is in line with efforts by Maruti Suzuki to shorten its own product development timeline. The Indian carmaker has been on the move to reduce its development cycle from around 48 months to 36 months.
The two targets are based on different benchmarks and therefore can’t be taken as the same milestones. But both reflect the company’s broader vision to accelerate and reduce vehicle development time.
Maruti Suzuki is preparing nine new models over the next three years and seven of them are expected to be SUVs. At a time when Indian consumers are very much in demand for SUVs in various price categories, this is a huge expansion of the range of products in its product line.
Faster development will be important as these vehicles are expected to cover different technologies and customer requirements. A petrol model is designed with a different set of engineering and validation requirements from electric, hybrid or CNG vehicles.
Multiple Powertrains Make Vehicle Development More Complex
One of the biggest issues that modern automakers face is the need to provide multiple powertrain options. A single vehicle platform can require development work for petrol, CNG, hybrid, flex-fuel and electric versions.
Each powertrain will need additional engineering, testing, supplier coordination and regulatory validation. Also, components will have to be adapted for different vehicle configurations and manufacturing requirements.
Suzuki’s plan is therefore not only about speeding up engineering tasks. The company wants to change how those tasks are organized so that multiple teams can work simultaneously rather than waiting for one stage to finish before starting another.
More simulation and virtual testing can also reduce the need for some physical development work at early stages. Digital tools can allow engineers to identify potential problems before components are produced or vehicles are built for physical testing.
Greater Supplier Involvement Could Help Cut Delays
Another important element of the strategy is supplier coordination. Maruti Suzuki has been working to involve suppliers earlier in the development process, while simultaneously developing components, tooling and manufacturing processes.
Earlier supplier involvement may help manufacturers identify production challenges before a vehicle reaches the final stages of development. It can also help suppliers prepare tooling and production capacity.
For a large product programme with many new models, this parallel approach can become especially important. A delay in one component can otherwise affect testing, production trials and the eventual market launch of an entire vehicle.
Suzuki's plan to integrate different functions earlier is therefore designed to reduce these handover delays and make the overall development process more predictable.
India To Become Increasingly Important For Suzuki
India is expected to play a key role in Suzuki’s future manufacturing strategy. Suzuki develops core technologies in Japan, while Maruti Suzuki adapts products for Indian customers and manufactures vehicles for the domestic and export markets.
The workload for this development and manufacturing network is expected to increase as India becomes an increasingly important production and export base for the group.
Suzuki is targeting annual vehicle production capacity of about 4 million units in India from fiscal 2030 onwards. Achieving that scale will require not only more manufacturing capacity but also a product development system capable of supporting a larger number of models.
The faster development target may therefore have implications beyond individual vehicle launches. A shorter development cycle might enable Suzuki and Maruti Suzuki to update products more frequently and react more quickly to changing market trends.
What The Faster Development Target Means For Future Maruti Cars
Achieving Suzuki's 2030 development target will eventually mean faster launches, more frequent updates and a wider range of models for Indian consumers. The upcoming nine-model programme of Maruti Suzuki is already pointing towards a stronger focus on SUVs, and the wider powertrain approach will also give consumers a wider variety of vehicle technology.
However, reducing development time does not mean that safety, durability or regulatory testing can be removed. Suzuki will have to shorten the overall programme while keeping up the quality and validation standards.
The company has not disclosed the current group-wide development period that will serve as the exact baseline for its 2030 target. The coming years will therefore be important as Suzuki implements greater digitalisation, cross-functional development and shared technologies.
If the approach is successful, Suzuki will change the way its future vehicles are designed, tested and manufactured. Maruti Suzuki’s approach could also help to build more momentum on an already large and diverse model lineup for India and international customers.
