Maruti Suzuki Swift, Ignis to go CNG: Vitara Brezza to get hybrid tech to replace diesel

Maruti Suzuki earlier this year made a huge announcement of discontinuing the diesel engine options in the market. The announcement was made because of the new upcoming emission norms, which will be implemented in the market on 1st April 2020. The Indian government decided to skip a generation of emission norms and jump from the BS4 regulations to the BS6 norms. While this skipping of a generation can be implemented into the petrol engines without much of a problem, the diesel engines will require a lot of updates. Developing the new compliant engines will require a lot of investment, which, in turn, will increase the price of the entry-level cars powered by the diesel engine by a lot. This is why Maruti Suzuki decided to do away with the diesel engines. This has happened in spite of the brand launching an all-new 1.5-litre diesel engine in the market earlier this year.

According to ET Auto, Maruti Suzuki will choose alternatives to ensure that the absence of a diesel engine in its portfolio does not become a major problem. Since the diesel engine is available in almost all the Maruti Suzuki vehicles, except for the entry-level ones, it can be a major turn around for the brand. However, Maruti Suzuki is taking steps to ensure that the absence of the diesel engine option does not affect the products as much.

Since most of the buyers choose the diesel engine options for their exemplary fuel efficiency, Maruti Suzuki will offer other techs to increase fuel efficiency. It is a known fact that Maruti Suzuki vehicles offer great fuel efficiency, regardless of their fuel type. In the future, Maruti Suzuki will offer CNG option with the smaller vehicles and Hybrid or Electric tech with the higher-end vehicles. Now there is no segregation between the small and the big cars here. However, we feel that the vehicles up to the Maruti Suzuki Swift will get the CNG version while the more expensive products like the Vitara Brezza, Ciaz and the S-Cross will offer the hybrid technology or electric powertrain.

Currently, the brand offers CNG option with the Ertiga MPV, WagonR, Alto, Alto K10, Eeco and the Celerio. In the future, Swift and the Ignis can also get similar technology. Maruti Suzuki recently launched the S-CNG version with the WagonR. Interestingly, Maruti Suzuki is also testing the electric version of the WagonR and it is expected to become the first all-electric vehicle from the brand. However, the price of the WagonR EV will be much higher than the regular version and the CNG version of the car. The current sales of Maruti Suzuki consist of only 5% CNG vehicles. However, the brand aims to sell more than 1.5 lakh units of the CNG cars this year.