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The slowdown in the car market and pressure on Maruti’s sales is prompting its Japanese parent Suzuki to go slow in its India expansion. After setting up its independent manufacturing factory in Gujarat (which supplies vehicles to Maruti), Suzuki is understood to have slowed the construction of a third plant, which was to begin production in the fourth quarter of this fiscal, with an investment of nearly Rs 3,800 crore. The development comes within days of Suzuki announcing at its annual financial performance in Japan that Maruti’s sales in India could fall by 20% this fiscal, against a previous forecast which had predicted a 4% growth. Suzuki has two plants at Hansalpur in Gujarat, and these have a cumulative vehicle production capacity of 5 lakh units, apart from a powertrain manufacturing unit. The third plant, which would be adding another 2.5 lakh units to the output, has been under construction, though the work seems to have slowed down now.