Maruti's woe: Diesel-shy models

Its top-selling models need to be able to run on diesel as well R&D priority is to develop such engines

Maruti Suzuki, the country’s largest car maker, which is receiving an increased supply of diesel engines, is handicapped in extending that fuel option to its petrol-driven best sellers that generate more than half their sales.

Its currently available diesel engine cannot be offered on its volume-generating popular models like the Alto, Eeco or WagonR, among others, due to technological drawbacks. Maruti’s other models such as the Swift, Ritz, DZire, SX4 and Ertiga have fuel options in either petrol or diesel. The company had either designed and developed these vehicles to run on both fuels or made the necessary modifications later.

Shinzo Nakanishi, managing director, said: “The research and development (R&D) team says it is impossible to have diesel variants of all the models.”

From a monthly count of 100,000 vehicles sold in the domestic market annually, about 60,000 units come from its non-diesel line. The share of diesel models has surged to nearly 40 per cent, with the company struggling to satisfy demand despite additional engine supply coming from Fiat India.

So as not to lose on the demand surge, the company is working on models which can also accommodate diesel engines. The Delhi-based company recently announced an investment of Rs 1,700 crore in a new diesel engine producing plant at Manesar, Haryana.

A senior company executive said, “Since it was not possible for us to launch the traditional petrol-powered models with a diesel engine, we were forced to offer alternate fuel options like CNG (compressed natural gas) and LPG (liquified petroleum gas) on those models. That has surely brought in the additional numbers which we would have otherwise lost to competitors.”

Despite the surge in petrol prices in the past several months, Maruti’s Alto model, the country’s largest selling car, continues to clock sales in excess of 20,000 units per month, thanks to the CNG option it offers. Similarly, apart from the regular petrol variant, the WagonR is offered with a petrol+LPG variant and a CNG variant. Likewise, the multi-seater Eeco comes with a CNG option, as with the Zen Estilo hatchback.

However to reduce its dependence on the licensed 1.3-litre diesel engine, the only diesel engine it has, Maruti has pushed its R&D into new areas of engine development. The company is thus pumping Rs 900 crore into the Rohtak, Haryana centre. “Developing a new engine with a smaller capacity of about one litre, having three cylinders, is a possibility and we could look into it. We cannot rely on only one (diesel) engine,” said a senior executive.

Suzuki Powertrain India, subsidiary company of Suzuki Motor Corporation, where Maruti Suzuki also holds 30 per cent stake, is doing the in-house R&D work. The one-litre engine could be the smallest diesel one in the Suzuki stable.