New Delhi: Automobile major Maruti Suzuki on Friday said that it has commenced nationwide fleet testing of electric vehicles (EVs).

“Testing of these electric vehicles will help to gather critical inputs based on customer perspectives,” the company said in a statement.

“This extensive real life usage of the vehicles will help in validation and development of new technology. This exercise will help to create a reliable and suitable electric vehicle to delight Indian customers.”

According to the company, these prototype EVs are developed on an existing model by Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan and manufactured at the Maruti Suzuki Gurugram plant in India, exclusively for fleet testing.

Automobile major Maruti Suzuki India on Saturday reported a 3.4 per cent dip in sales in August as the car maker sold a total of 158,189 units in the month, compared to 163,701 units sold in the year-ago month.

“Sales during the month were adversely affected due to severe floods in Kerala and heavy rains in other parts of the country,” it said.

Maruti Suzuki commences nationwide fleet testing of electric vehicles

In the domestic market, it sold 147,700 units during August, down by 2.8 per cent from 152,000 units sold in the corresponding month in 2017.

The carmaker exported 10,489 units registering a 10.4 per cent drop from 11,701 units shipped out in the year-ago month.

It sold 114,261 units of passenger cars in the August 2018, falling by 1.4 per cent from 115,897 units sold in the corresponding month 2017.

Sales of its utility vehicles dropped by 16.2 per cent to 17,971 units in August, while vans sales were at 13,663 units, decrease by 1.9 per cent over corresponding month 2017.

However, during the first five months of the current fiscal, it posted a 12.4 per cent growth in sales to 813,037 units as compared to 723,618 units sold in the corresponding period of 2017-18.