Maruti To Put Diesel Vehicles On Backburner Over Stricter Emission Norms

Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) has ruled out getting back into the diesel segment as it believes sale of such vehicles would further come down with the onset of the next phase of emission norms in 2023, according to a senior company official.

The country's largest carmaker believes the next phase of emission norms would jack up the cost of diesel vehicles, thus further impacting their sales in the market which for the last few years has seen a gradual shift towards petrol cars.

"We are not going to be in the diesel space. We had indicated earlier that we will study it and if there is customer demand we can make a comeback. But going forward, we will not be participating in the diesel space," MSI chief technical officer C V Raman said.

He cited the upcoming stricter emission norms as a primary reason to avoid diesel-powered cars.

"In 2023 the new phase of emission norms will come which is likely to drive up the cost. So we believe that diesel percentages may further come down. We do not know about the competition but as MSI we do not have any intention to participate in the diesel space," Mr Raman noted.

As per industry estimates, the share of diesel vehicles is currently less than 17 per cent of the overall passenger vehicle (PV) sales. It is a massive reduction from 2013-14 when diesel cars used to account for 60 per cent of the overall sales.

Already many of the automakers in the country have junked diesel trims of their respective portfolios with the onset of the BS-VI emission regime from April 1, 2020.

MSI had discontinued diesel models from its portfolio with the onset of the stricter BS-VI emission norms.

The company's entire model range is currently powered by BS-VI compliant 1 litre, 1.2 litre and 1.5 litre gasoline engines. It also offers CNG trims across seven of its models.

Mr Raman said the company would focus on improving its existing petrol powertrains in terms of fuel efficiency and going ahead, may also look at a new family of engines to power its product portfolio.

"We have said that we will improve our existing powertrains which is already happening. The new K10-C engine in Celerio is one improvement. Similarly, the 1.2 litre engine has undergone some change. So from a fuel efficiency perspective, we will improve our internal combustion engine technology," he stated.

As per the company, its recently introduced all-new version of Celerio returns a fuel efficiency of 26.68 km per litre, which it claims is the highest for any petrol-powered car in India.

Mr Raman said the company would also enhance electrification aspects in its cars like start-stop technology.

"We already have the mild hybrid technology at the higher end. Besides, we are propagating more CNG because of the low running cost. Seven out of 15 models already have the CNG trims. In future, more brands will come with the technology," he added.

There would be hybrid technologies and electric vehicles (EVs) going ahead, so there is going to be a lot of change from powertrain perspective, Mr Raman noted.