Maruti Suzuki to drop all diesel cars by 2020
- Maruti Suzuki, the country’s latest car maker, has officially announced that it will discontinue all of its diesel cars by April 2020.
- April 2020 is when the BSVI emission norms come into effect in India. The company claims that its diesel engines are ready to meet these norms.
- The company plans to focus on developing petrol, hybrids, CNG and electric vehicles. Maruti also plans to launch an EV in the Rs 9-11 lakh price segment by next year in India. Suzuki’s strategic partnership with Toyota would help facilitate this development.
- Surprisingly, Maruti has just launched its brand new, in-house developed 1.5-litre diesel engine on the Ciaz. While this engine can be made BSVI-ready, the company has to access the 10-year life cycle costs of the engine, and as it stands currently, the upgrade costs may not be worth it.
- As of now, diesel cars make up for around 30 per cent of all Maruti Suzuki sales. Obviously, this is a significant number and it remains to be seen what the company brings into the market to make up for it.
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