The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI), majority owned by the Japanese firm, is investing up to Rs 1,500 crore in building test tracks and an R&D centre in Rohtak, Haryana.

Maruti is also considering increasing production capacity at its Manesar facility, and a decision on this is likely soon.

The company is executing its three-year plan of Rs 9,000-crore up to 2010 and is working on plans for new investments and capacity expansion in the presence of Suzuki, who has come to India to attend the company's AGM.

Suzuki Motor Corp (SMC), which owns a majority stake in India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI), had earlier forecast operating profit at 10 billion yen (USD 111.05 million).

The small car major said its operating profit in Asia increased in the first six months of this fiscal due to strong performance by the Indian subsidiary.

SMC said its sales in Asia during the period stood at 363.1 billion yen (USD 4.03 billion), against 416.3 billion yen (USD 4.62 billion), down 12.78 per cent on account of yen appreciation.

"...but Maruti Suzuki India posted higher sales than those for the consolidated cumulative second quarter of the previous fiscal due to good sales of the new models, including A-Star and Ritz," it said.

Where four-wheel drive is specified, the vehicle is delivered with an intelligent all-wheel drive (i-AWD) system. A synergetic vehicle dynamics control system acts on the i-AWD system and electric power steering system to suppress body movements and keep the car stable.

The synergetic vehicle dynamics control system reportedly acts only on the power-steering system, where two-wheel drive is specified. The company plans to launch the Kizashi in the US, following its Japan launch.

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So having the Magna-led alliance purchase Opel is a better scenario for Suzuki. Still, "it's up to the new Opel" to decide whether to maintain a partnership with the Japanese carmaker, a senior Suzuki official says.

Isuzu supplies all diesel engines produced at a Polish joint venture with General Motors Co. to Opel. The Magna alliance is seen as not so strong in development of low-pollution diesel engines, meaning that Opel would still need to source such engines from the Isuzu-GM alliance.

(Nikkei) rw