Maruti May Bring Back The 1.5-Litre Diesel If There Is Demand For It

A BS6 diesel engine may still have a place in Maruti’s lineup

The implementation of the BS6 emission norms has been one of great significance in the Indian automotive industry. Most manufacturers had to ditch their smaller capacity diesel engines as it would be too cost inefficient to make them BS6 compliant. Maruti was among the first to announce its plans to ditch diesel engines altogether. However, India’s biggest carmaker has stated that it is still looking at the possibility of bringing back a diesel engine but only for its bigger models.

With the launch of the 2020 S-Cross, Maruti’s lineup now consists of petrol-only model. The crossover is now powered by the same 1.5-litre petrol engine as the facelifted Vitara Brezza, Ertiga, Ciaz and XL6. In the BS4 era, the Ertiga and Ciaz were also available with a 1.5-litre diesel engine that Maruti had developed in-house to keep costs low while offering more performance than the Fiat-sourced 1.3-litre diesel unit. 

Maruti stated that the likes of the S-Cross, Ertiga and XL6 could get a BS6-compliant diesel engine in the future if there is enough demand for it. These diesel variants would attract a premium of more than Rs 1 lakh over the corresponding petrol variants. The diesel engine that could make a comeback in BS6 form is the same 1.5-litre unit as before. In its BS4 avatar, this engine had an output of 95PS and 225Nm while mated to a 6-speed manual. The claimed fuel efficiency was stated to be around 25kmpl. 

The compact SUV and the MPVs could benefit from the torquier engine while the Ciaz will likely remain a petrol-only sedan like most of its rivals. Even the smaller Vitara Brezza could get the new diesel engine which would likely be priced similar to the new petrol-automatic variants which add a premium of Rs 1.4 lakh over their manual variants. Let us know in the comments below if you’d be willing to pay the premium for diesel-powered Maruti models in the BS6 era.