Khattar and Saito with the Suzuki Hayabusa, a single-seater racing car, in Delhi on Wednesday. Picture by Rajesh Kumar

New Delhi, Jan. 14: Suzuki Motor Corp plans to outsource components for its manufacturing unit in Pakistan from Maruti Udyog which will help lower production cost and boost the Pakistan unit’s profitability.

“We are looking at the possibility of exporting certain key auto components from India to our manufacturing facility in Pakistan,” Suzuki director, marketing and sales, K. Saito said.

His comments come a week after nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan, which have fought three wars since independence, said they would hold talks in February to resolve decades of mutual hostility.

In addition to the talks between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, New Delhi and Islamabad have also agreed with other south Asian neighbours to create a south Asian free trade area, which will come into force at the start of 2006.

“Exports will begin only after Pakistan lifts ban on Indian imports particularly of capital goods,” said Saito.

“Nothing has been finalised yet but Maruti’s components are several times cheaper than those in our Pakistan manufacturing facility. The lower production costs would certainly give us a competitive edge in Pakistan,” he explained, adding passenger cars were priced nearly 50 per cent more than in India.

“Although Suzuki has a similar production facility in Pakistan compared with Maruti and produces similar vehicles, there is a huge price difference in automobile prices of the two countries,” said Saito.

Suzuki holds around 54 per cent in the Pakistani venture.