Maruti To Bring Back The 1.5-litre Diesel In 2021, Vitara Brezza And Ertiga Likely To Receive It First

The carmaker has been petrol-only in the BS6 era thus far but its in-house diesel unit seems ready for a comeback

• Maruti announced a petrol-only lineup ahead of the BS6 emission norms coming into effect on April 1.

• Its SUVs and MPVs could benefit from the demand for diesel variants.

• The 1.5-litre diesel unit developed in-house and introduced in 2018 will be updated to BS6 compliance.

• Maruti could reintroduce it in the Vitara Brezza and Ertiga first, followed by the XL6 and S-Cross.

• The BS6 diesel variant could add a premium of over Rs 1.4 lakh over the petrol-manual variants.

When Maruti announced it won’t update any of its diesel engines to meet BS6 emission norms, many saw it as the death of mass-market diesel offerings. Other carmakers like Renault, Nissan and Skoda-VW have taken similar paths in India. However, it seems Maruti is ready to bring back its 1.5-litre diesel in 2021 for its bigger models like the SUVs and MPVs.

Maruti had always stated that they would bring back diesels if there was enough demand for it and it seems the carmaker is convinced that there is. One of the main reasons cited for not discontinuing the diesel engines to BS6 norms was the cost involved in updating them. But it seems Maruti has evaluated that the demand makes the investment worth it. In the meantime, Hyundai, Tata, Kia and Mahindra seemed to have taken over most of the diesel demand, especially in the sub-4m SUV and compact SUV segments. 

The diesel engine set to return is the 1.5-litre unit that was developed in-house and manufactured at Maruti’s Manesar powertrain plant and Introduced in 2018. This engine was offered with the Ertiga and Ciaz models. In its BS4 avatar, it made 95PS/225Nm and was mated to a 6-speed manual to offer a claimed mileage of around 25kmpl. Once updated to meet the BS6 norms, Maruti might offer it with the Vitara Brezza and the Ertiga at first, with the XL6 and S-Cross to follow from the Nexa lineup.

Maruti could price the diesel variants similar to the automatic variants of the 1.5-litre petrol engines which add a premium of around Rs 1.4 lakh over the manual variants. It might even be less depending on the model in question. Would you be willing to pay the premium for a diesel-powered Vitara Brezza or Ertiga? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: PTI