The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India is recalibrating production of its upcoming model e-Vitara due to the shortage of rare earth magnets, industry sources said.
Photograph: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters
The auto major is looking to produce around 8,000 units of the model by September as against the earlier stated plan of rolling out over 26,000 units during the period.
The company however plans to make up for the production dip in the subsequent months with stated target to produce around 67,000 units of the model this fiscal, sources said.
Maruti Suzuki India declined to comment on the matter.
Earlier this week, Maruti Suzuki India chairman R C Bhargava said there is no impact on the company’s production due to the shortage of rare earth magnets as of now.
Domestic carmakers are forced to take steps as the Chinese government has put restrictions since April 4 on the export of rare earth elements and related magnets.
China has mandated special export licences for seven rare earth elements and related magnets.
China controls over 90 per cent of global processing capacity for the magnets, used across sectors including automobiles, home appliances and clean energy.
The domestic automobile industry has sought government support in expediting approvals from the Chinese government for importing rare earth magnets used in various applications, including passenger cars.
As per the industry sources, various domestic suppliers have already sought approval from the Chinese government through their local vendors in China.
However, no approvals have been granted so far.
The critical materials include samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium and lutetium, which are essential in electric motors, braking systems, smartphones and missile technology.
Rare earth magnets are integral to permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs) used in EVs for their high torque, energy efficiency and compact size.
Hybrids also depend on them for efficient propulsion. In internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, the use of rare earth magnets is largely limited to electric power steering and other motorised systems.
