Japanese car major Suzuki Motor Corporation unveiled its fifth global car “A-Star” in New Delhi on Tuesday. Suzuki will manufacture A-Star in India and the car will be showcased at auto expo. Suzuki Chairman, Osamu Suzuki said that A-Star will be manufactured in India only and will be promoted under Suzuki’s “family theme”.

A-Star will be a compact car and will be powered by Euro V engine with a capacity of 1 litre manufactured by Maruti Suzuki India. Presently, Suzuki will sell A-Star in a petrol variant only. Suzuki Powertrain India will manufacture the manual transmission for the car. Suzuki also plans to launch Splash in India in near term. Splash will be available in Diesel and Petrol variants. Suzuki plans to sell 1 lakh units in Europe and 50 thousand in India.

Regarding Tata’s Rs 1 lakh car, Mr. Osamu Suzuki expressed his view that the safety should not be compromised. If the car maker sacrifices safety and emission norms to create a cheap variant, it will be quite irresponsible behavior from an auto major from India.

Suzuki will invest Rs 9000 crore in India under expansion plans. The company has plans for upgradation of  Gurgaon plant and R&D facility in Haryana.

Suzuki will use its Indian manufacturing facility to make A-Star units to be exported to Europe. The production is expected to start by autumn 2008. Suzuki Splash will be launched for Indian markets only while A-Star will be for both Indian and European consumers.

Mr. Osamu Suzuki didn’t mention a specific date of launch of vehicles in India. He informed that Splash will be launched in Europe in spring of 2008.

Manesar manufacturing facility will produce 1.5 lakh units of A-Star. The company is already expanding its plant to double the capacity by 2010.