Maruti Suzuki looking to replicate diesel engine frugality with hybrid, CNG

The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki is expecting its strong hybrid and compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles to yield impressive sales as the price of petrol continues to hurt. The company is betting big on its alternative powertrain options and estimates sales to touch peak volumes it once had with its diesel vehicles five years ago, The Economic Times (ET) has reported.

Earlier, Maruti Suzuki had done away with diesel engines with the announcement of BS VI emission norms in April 2020. The company had reported its best-ever sales of diesel vehicles which stood at around 480,000 units in FY18, the report said.

Currently, diesel vehicles are about 17.8 per cent of total passenger vehicle sales. However, Maruti Suzuki has clarified that it will not get into diesel vehicles and instead focus on developing and introducing CNG and strong hybrid vehicles, the report said.

Elaborating on the subject, senior executive officer, Marketing and Sales at Maruti Suzuki, Shashank Srivastava told ET that with emission norms becoming stricter, investments required to make compliant diesel vehicles will rise and does not make economic sense. He added that the company will focus on CNG vehicles in the mass market as a cost-effective solution.

Maruti Suzuki plans to sell up to 450,000 CNG-powered vehicles in the ongoing financial year. The company sold 328,000 units of CNG vehicles in the financial year 2022-23.

Apart from CNG, the company has introduced two strong hybrid vehicles in its product lineup - the Grand Vitara and the Invicto. These vehicles can serve customers looking for more premium products. Last quarter, the company sold a total of 111,000 units of CNG and strong hybrid vehicles, the ET report said.

For the benefits of lower running costs, carmakers like Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors appear to be fortifying their product portfolio in the CNG segment. As a part of this strategy, Tata Motors has introduced its popular hatchback Tiago and Altroz with CNG variants.

The cost of CNG in Delhi on July 10 stood at Rs 73.59 per kg, whereas, petrol retailed at Rs 96.72 per litre.