Maruti Suzuki is planning to emerge as an exclusive base for small cars to export small cars for European markets, according to Maruti Suzuki MD S Nakanishi.



According to him, the A-Star compact, which is to be reintroduced as the Alto in Europe, will be the first model for this exercise. This is good news for the Indian government, since it is promoting India as a manufacturing hub for small cars.



To this end, it is offering sops like lower excise duty, which will help the company’s export plans in the long run.  South Korean major Hyundai has already set up India as a small car hub for their small car models i10 and Santro.



Some of the other manufacturers are also looking forward towards doing likewise. Accordingly, Suzuki plans to export around 1 lakh units first from the last quarter of this year. Suzuki also plans to reserve only 50,000 cars for the domestic market.