It is also likely to avoid the price war fuelled by the rise of Chinese electric vehicle leaders like BYD that has pressured many carmakers around the world.
“Being a Japanese company listed in Japan but having a very significant profit exposure to India is something that we feel very good about,” Liu, a former auto analyst at Goldman Sachs Group, said on Thursday.
Unlike other carmakers, “Suzuki is very loyal to the internal combustion engine and now hybrids. And I do think that in India for the foreseeable future gasoline cars and hybrids are the main products that will be demanded by consumers.”
See also: China’s US$1.3 tril stock rally risks underperforming US peers
Kings Court Capital, which manages US$400 million ($539.27 million) and employs a long-short equity strategy, invests about 70% of its portfolio in Japanese stocks and 15% in China.
Suzuki, Sony Group and Hikari Tsushin have remained unchanged as the fund’s top-three long holdings over the last two years.
Its 33% return last year compares with a 9.6% gain in the MSCI AC Asia Pacific Net Total Return USD Index, which it uses as a benchmark for performance. Suzuki’s shares have more than doubled since a 2022 low, beating the MSCI world auto benchmark’s 2.9% rise.
See also: Bankers bet big on 2026 after underwriting US$65 bil in deals
Suzuki’s India unit is the country’s biggest car company by sales and recently started production at its first new plant in eight years, boosting output in a market set to reach the 6-million passenger vehicles milestone by 2030.
Liu started Kings Court Capital in 2021 with a classmate from the Wharton School, with the fund name inspired by a dormitory from the college. He has also done portfolio management stints at Millennium Management and Balyasny Asset Management.
Chart: Bloomberg
