Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. is setting an ambitious target, expecting compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles to account for 50% of its total sales. This projection comes as the automaker expands its S-CNG portfolio with new automatic variants of the Swift, Dzire, and Baleno.
Currently, CNG vehicles contribute 43% to Maruti Suzuki’s sales. The company maintains a dominant position in India's fast-growing CNG segment, capturing 70% of the market share and selling approximately 80,000 CNG units each month.
New Automatic CNG Offerings
The recent expansion of the S-CNG lineup includes automatic (Auto Gear Shift - AMT) variants for three of Maruti Suzuki's best-selling models:
- Swift S-CNG AMT: Starting at ₹7.92 lakh (ex-showroom)
- Baleno S-CNG AMT: Starting at ₹8.32 lakh (ex-showroom)
- Dzire S-CNG AMT: Starting at ₹8.53 lakh (ex-showroom)
These new models boast impressive fuel efficiency figures:
- Dzire S-CNG AMT: 36.47 km/kg
- Swift S-CNG AMT: 35.34 km/kg
- Baleno S-CNG AMT: 34.47 km/kg
All three vehicles are powered by Maruti Suzuki’s 1.2-litre Z12E engine, featuring Dual Variable Valve Timing (Dual VVT) and Idle Start Stop (ISS) technology, paired with a five-speed AMT for seamless automatic gear changes.
Growth and Challenges
Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer of Sales and Marketing at Maruti Suzuki, expressed optimism about reaching the 50% CNG penetration goal, contingent on securing adequate supplies. He also highlighted the company's broader objective to achieve nearly 1 million sales from its 'green vehicle' segment, which includes CNG, electric vehicles, and strong hybrid models.
Despite strong demand, Maruti Suzuki has acknowledged existing constraints in its capacity to produce CNG vehicles. The demand for S-CNG vehicles has seen a significant surge, with the company reporting a 58% year-on-year increase in sales during the first quarter and a record 83,000 monthly S-CNG sales in July.