Honda leads the top 15 fuel-efficient cars; Maruti Suzuki stands nowhere

Entered late, but with a bang! Honda cars India, which finally introduced a much-needed diesel engine last year, is now the most fuel-efficient oil-burner unit of the country. According to a report from ET, Honda's newest generation City is the least thirsty car sold in India, followed by its own younger sibling Amaze compact sedan, that too uses the same mill under the hood. Powered by a common 'Earth Dreams' 100ps-1.5-litre i-DTEC diesel engine, City's claimed mileage is 26 kmpl, while the Amaze claims a fuel efficiency of 25.8 kmpl, certified by Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI). Despite of the slowdown in the Indian automobile industry, sales of Honda cars registered a growth of 83 percent with 1.34 lakh units against the year ended March 2014.

"As a latecomer to the diesel market, we had set the goal of delivering highest mileage. We were able to achieve it by innovation that is also in line with Honda's global philosophy to make environment-friendly and mileage conscious cars," said Jnaneswar Sen, Honda's senior vice-president of marketing and sales.

In Et's list of top 15 fuel efficient cars, India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki doesn't have any of its models. Dzire compact sedan being the most efficient product in their portfolio, with 23.4 kmpl, stood at 19th position. Even after the existence of these facts, Maruti Suzuki's current line-up still continue to outnumber most of its competitors, sidelining all their fuel-efficiency claims. Also, while the ET's this list is led by cars running on diesel, MSI has a strong hold on petrol-fueled small cars, which still garner more numbers.

"MSI has shown significant improvements in fuel economy of both gasoline and diesel models by focused initiative like light weighting, powertrain improvements, etc," a spokesperson said. Maruti Suzuki's newer models deliver higher mileage than their predecessors.

As per the latest data, cars and utility vehicles sold in India currently, delivers an over-all efficiency of 16 kilometres a litre, accounting an improvement of about 1.5 kms in the past years. In the current scenario, all carmakers voluntary disclose mileage ratings, but from April 2016, every car (including UVs) will have to deliver an efficiency of atleast 18.2 kms to a litre.

Source : ET