Suzuki Motor Corp’s ten-year technology plan focuses on reducing energy usage throughout the entire lifecycle, from production to recycling, in pursuit of a carbon-neutral world. The initiative also seeks to enhance transportation convenience.
Suzuki Motor Corporation has unveiled its strategic technology vision for the upcoming decade, emphasizing its commitment to minimizing energy consumption from the production to the recycling stages. This strategy is aligned with the company’s goal to foster a carbon-neutral environment while enhancing the global accessibility and enjoyment of transportation.
Suzuki has detailed a comprehensive five-pronged technology approach:
- Lightweighting: Known for its proficiency in creating compact and lightweight vehicles, Suzuki aims to advance its Heartect platform, which combines safety and lightness. The platform incorporates rigid structural components for occupant safety and crumple zones to manage and absorb impact energy. It has been extensively tested for various crash scenarios, enhancing the safety credentials of Maruti Suzuki’s vehicles in India. This approach reduces CO2 emissions during vehicle operation and lessens resource use and emissions in the manufacturing phase, contributing to overall conservation efforts.
- Lean-battery BEVs and HEVs: Suzuki’s early 2023 announcement included a significant £3 billion investment in battery technology, five new electric vehicles launched in 2024, and a commitment to achieving carbon neutrality in Europe by 2050. The company focuses on developing energy-efficient electric cars tailored to each market’s renewable energy availabilities and usage conditions. These vehicles will feature compact, efficient electric units and batteries, reflecting Suzuki’s ‘Sho-Sho-Kei-Tan-Bi’ philosophy of minimalism and efficiency.
- High-efficiency ICE/CNF technology: In 2023, Suzuki introduced the Z12E engine, a high-efficiency engine designed to optimize combustion—the core process in internal combustion engines. Achieving a thermal efficiency of 40%, Suzuki plans to roll out this engine globally, complementing it with carbon-neutral fuels and next-generation hybrid technologies to minimize energy usage further.
- SDV right: Suzuki is also capitalizing on the trend towards software-defined vehicles (SDVs) by developing ‘SDV right,’ a cost-effective system that enhances vehicle value through minimized energy usage and optimal software update mechanisms, including wired and wireless OTA updates.
- Easy recyclability and disassembly design: Suzuki is moving away from the traditional linear economic model, which leads to excessive energy consumption and environmental degradation. Instead, it is embracing a circular economy approach. This involves designing easier-to-disassemble products for recycling and reuse, reducing the overall resource footprint.
In January 2023, Suzuki outlined its “Future Growth 2030” strategy, which aims to contribute to a carbon-neutral society while focusing on economic growth in key regions such as India, ASEAN countries, and Africa, with a strategic emphasis on its core markets—Japan, India, and Europe.
