Respected  Osamu Suzuki san
Distinguished Ladies & Gentlemen

I am delighted to be asked to say a few words on the occasion of the launch of the ‘Made in India' Suzuki Baleno car in Japan today. I offer my heartiest congratulations to Osamu Suzuki San and the entire Suzuki team that made this possible.

India is the world's third-largest automobile market by volume. The automobile sector in India accounts for 7.1 per cent of the country's GDP.

India is also the world's fastest growing large economy, with a projected GDP growth rate this year of 7.5 per cent. Today, global car majors from the US, Europe, Japan and Korea are stepping up their investments not only to take advantage of the growing domestic market but to also leverage India's competitive advantage as a global manufacturing hub for exports.

India offers an enabling environment for investments. Besides a large domestic market, it also offers rich and youthful human resources and an open and democratic environment. By 2020, six million cars will be sold annually in India.

Osamu Suzuki San is a visionary who single-handedly transformed the Indian automobile sector when he took the Suzuki brand to India in 1982. Since then, millions of Indians have put their faith in Suzuki products which are known for quality, performance and environmental standards. Today, his Joint Venture in India - Maruti Suzuki - produces 1.5 million cars annually. It is a market leader with almost half the market share for cars in India.  A third factory is coming up in Gujarat state, to add to the existing two plants.

Maruti Suzuki exports cars made in India to over 125 countries including in Europe, which is proof of their quality. The model being launched today – the Baleno – is a state of the art car developed and manufactured in India, and will be exported to 100 global markets, including to Japan. 
With this step, Osamu Suzuki San has added a new ‘feather in the cap' of Maruti Suzuki India's long and illustrious history.

The ‘Made in India' Baleno's launch in Japan is a huge endorsement of the ‘Make in India' campaign which has caught the attention today of global industry. During Prime Minister Abe's recent visit to India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi singled out the Suzuki presence in India as an example of the success of the ‘Make in India' campaign.

I am confident that the ‘Baleno' will prove to be a huge success in Japan. I wish the launch complete success.

Thank you.