this big decision taken on small BS6 diesel engine
The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) has no intention of developing a Bharat Stage-6 standard diesel engine for small cars.
New Delhi: The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) has no intention of developing a Bharat Stage-VI standard diesel engine for small cars. The company believes that such cars are not economically viable. A company official said that now the market is slowly shifting towards petrol models. There is no diesel model in the vehicles that will be offered next to Maruti. The company now intends to expand its CNG portfolio.
Shashank Srivastava, executive director of sales and marketing, MSI, said, “There is no logic to develop a smaller diesel engine. It has come down to less than five per cent in hatchbacks. It has also come down significantly in sedans and entry-level SUVs. Economics Now However, the auto major may consider larger BS-VI engines if there is a substantial demand for diesel-based large SUVs and sedans going forward. There are people who do not see the economics of driving a car and they can still buy diesel cars, which is why the company has said that it is keeping a close eye on the market.
- BS6 diesel engine can be made for big vehicles
He said that if there are enough people in that category, then we can consider developing a bigger BS-VI diesel engine. Srivastava said that the company has not taken any decision on this yet. On the expansion of CNG portfolio, Srivastava said that the company aims to sell 1.4 to 1.5 lakh CNG vehicles in the current financial year. In 2019-20, the company sold 1.07 lakh CNG vehicles.
The company has set an ambitious target of selling one million cars equipped with CNG technology in the next few years. Srivastava said that CNG cars are cheaper than diesel cars. Apart from this, it is also cheaper to run CNG cars. The CNG portfolio registered a growth of 7 per cent in the last financial year. At the same time, the overall passenger vehicle industry declined by 18 percent.
