Maruti 'investing' in new technologies to bring down CO2 emissions

Country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) today said it is investing in new technologies to further reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per vehicle.

The company said it is also in the process of aligning with stringent EU norms for classification, labelling and packaging of chemical substances besides adopting VCI Packaging (Volatile Corrosion Inhibitors) guidelines for packaging materials.

"Maruti Suzuki is working systematically to reduce vehicle emissions and the impact of manufacturing on the environment... Going forward, we will continue our focus on investing in new technologies and further bring down CO2 emissions per vehicle," MSI Managing Director and CEO Kenichi Ayukawa said in a statement.

As part of company's efforts to use renewable source of energy, MSI plans to install a 5 MW solar power plant at its Gurgaon campus this fiscal, he added.

"At Manesar, our existing 1 MW solar power plant will be complemented by an additional 0.5 MW solar plant," Ayukawa said.

MSI said its Heartect platform helps to lower CO2 emissions between 6 to 8 per cent. Models like the Baleno, Ignis, Swift and Dzire have been built on the new platform.

It claimed to have reduced an estimated over 8.3 lakh tonnes of CO2 emission over the past decade through introduction of CNG, LPG and smart hybrid vehicles. 

The company currently has over 50 per cent market share in the domestic passenger vehicle segment.

The company further said it has reduced water consumption per vehicle manufactured by 6 per cent as compared to the previous year at its manufacturing plants in 2017-18. 

Besides, there is 1 per cent reduction in CO2 emission while manufacturing every vehicle over the past year, MSI claimed.

"The company will soon adopt international material data capturing system to study parameters like ASR (Automotive Shredder Residue), RRR (Reuse, Recycle and Recover) and substances of concern (like Pb, Hg, Cd, Cr) across all models so that prohibited substances can be identified and eliminated. This initiative will strengthen end of life system (ELV) for vehicles," MSI said.

For exports, the company will align with the European Union system of classification, labelling and packaging of chemical substances and adopt VCI Packaging (Volatile Corrosion Inhibitors) guidelines for packaging materials.

By aligning with EU norms the disclosures on components will be comprehensive, it said.