Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of Maruti's third plant at Gurgaon, Union minister for heavy industry and public enterprises Manohar Joshi said full transfer of technology will help Maruti to retain market share in the face of increasing competition.

He said the joint venture between Suzuki and the Government would not have been a success without Suzuki's support in transfer of technology and vendor development.

Joshi said Suzuki has expressed interest in rolling out a new model from Maruti every year. It may be noted that visiting Suzuki Motor president O Suzuki had on Thursday said that Maruti would need to invest around Rs 300 crore for bringing out each new model.

Joshi said Suzuki president's dream of rolling out vehicles with `Made in India' tag can only be made possible if Suzuki facilitates full transfer of technology to India. Suzuki is yet to part with the gearbox technology in its 50:50 joint venture with the Government.

Joshi and Suzuki Motors president O Suzuki on Friday inaugurated Maruti Plant III at Gurgaon, Haryana. With addition of capacity to further produce 100,000 vehicles, Maruti's total installed capacity will increase to 3,50,000 vehicles per annum. This will expand Maruti's production capacity to nearly half a million vehicles annually. Speaking at the inauguration, SMC president O Suzuki said his company would continue to extend all possible support to Maruti to maintain its market leadership.

He said that by setting up the new plant, Maruti would join select group of 20 largest auto manufacturers in the World which have capability to produce five lakh vehicles annually. He observed that the country has total installed capacity of manufacturing 1.25 million vehicles annually while the demand was around 0.65 million. Automobile manufacturers should take the bridging of the gap as a challenge, Suzuki added. Commenting on the Maruti's Gurgaon plant, Suzuki president noted that there was further scope for improving productivity and quality.

Speaking at the inauguration, Maruti managing director Jagdish Khattar said the company would need to further augment the existing capacity to cater to growing market demand. With launch of new models including Wagon R and Alto, Maruti is confident of utilising the capacities of the new plant to the full, Khattar said. He said that the capacity expansion will make Maruti the largest passenger car company in Asia outside Japan and Korea.

He said to retain market leadership Maruti would have to further expand the market. ``We propose to continuously expand and upgrade our network facilities,'' he said.

Khattar noted that the company would have to improve performance in terms of costs, quality, volumes and profits.