Some more time to kill before Maruti Alto and Wagon R go diesel

For decades, petrol cars have ruled the auto market but owing to the recent drift in the sentiments of the people toward the cleaner and cheaper fuel – diesel and the diesel cars in India, the petrol as a fuel has been dethroned and so have the petrol cars. But there are some exceptions in this case as well. The much-loved small cars Alto and Wagon R from the country’s biggest car maker Maruti Suzuki India have been pulling in huge volumes solely with their petrol variants. The company worked its way around the diesel engine variant by fixing Maruti Alto F8D with a CNG fuel model and Maruti Wagon R with an LPG-petrol dual fuel model.

The question is how long Maruti will manage to maintain its dominance over the entry-level segment with so many newer diesel cars kicking their way in. One such example is the upcoming Tata Nano’s diesel model which is sure to dethrone these small cars if it lives up to Tata’s claims of offering a fuel economy of 40 kmpl. Word is, Maruti is not going to leave its fans disappointed and is planning on retrenching the 1.3 liter MultiJet diesel engine into a three cylinder sub 1 liter engine that is suitable for Maruti Suzuki Alto diesel and Maruti Suzuki WagnoR diesel; however, no final word on the same has been let out. Was the launch of cheaper gaseous fuel options for beloved Alto and Wagon R an attempt of the company to fetch itself some time before it could come up with a smaller diesel engine? What do we know!

Talking about downsizing the 1.3 liter MultiJet diesel engine, General Motors has already launched a smaller engine based on this one which is currently doing duty in the Chevrolet Beat diesel. This small 936cc engine did not have to compromise much on the power (57 BHP), torque (140 Nm) and fuel economy figures. Maruti could also build an engine on similar lines that can offer great mileage and drivability to India’s favorite entry level cars. It is expected that Maruti Suzuki India will easily take around a year to build the aforementioned diesel engine but till then there is another option that can keep Maruti engaged. The Alto is still missing LPG-petrol dual fuel option; Maruti can offer Alto F8D in an LPG variant which like Chevrolet Spark LPG and Hyundai Eon LPG will somehow manage to draw in big volumes.

Read More on : Maruti Alto in India