Maruti to continue selling small diesel cars after a brief hiatus
At present, nearly half of Maruti’s sales volume comes from the BS-VI compliant petrol-powered cars.
Maruti Suzuki has reportedly decided to bring back small diesel cars to its domestic portfolio after a brief hiatus. A report in ETAuto reveals that the New Delhi-based manufacturer will be bringing in the BS-VI compliant version of the 1.5-litre diesel engine.
The company had earlier announced that it will stop selling its diesel engine options for small passenger cars from April 2020, as the cost involved in upgrading these engines will raise the prices significantly.
Maruti fears that it will lose out on the volume game, as its rivals, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hyundai, and Tata Motors are upgrading their diesel portfolio. In the financial year 2018-19, Maruti sold around five lakh diesel cars. This year, the numbers are expected to drop to around 2.5 lakh units to three lakh units, due to the economic slowdown. However, once the BS-VI compliant engine is back in business, the company expects the numbers to bounce back to the same volume as last fiscal, in 2021.
Further, the carmaker is expecting that it will get a demand for the BS-VI diesel engine from its partner Toyota which will help in achieving the five lakh annual unit mark. Thanks to its parent company Suzuki’s tie-up with Toyota, Maruti at present shares the Baleno hatchback, which is retailed under the brand name Glanza.
Maruti Suzuki has stopped production of its BS-IV diesel cars expect the Vitara Brezza compact SUV and Dzire compact sedan. Both these cars are offered with the 1.3-litre DDiS diesel engine, sourced from Fiat. However, the company will stop the production of BS-IV compliant diesel mills from January.
The 1.5-litre diesel engine has been indigenously developed by Suzuki and was introduced in the updated Ciaz. In its present tune, the powerplant produces 95 PS of power and 225 Nm of torque. It returns a segment-leading fuel economy of 26.82 kmpl.
Maruti claims that this engine has a high level of refinement and low NVH (Noise, Vibration, and Harshness) levels by using a dual-mass flywheel (DMF) along with an optimised compression ratio that reduces engine fluctuations.
(Edited by Suman Singh)