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      Maruti Suzuki plans on launching diesel version of Eeco van and Celerio hatchback

      Nikhil Puthran

      Nikhil Puthran

      India's largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki has created quite a stir in the Indian market hinting on a possible launch of Eeco van and Celerio hatchback in a diesel version. As per sources, “Maruti is working to adapt the 800cc diesel engine, its first self-developed engine, for the Eeco van. The engine will first be launched in the new Maruti LCV (codeY9T) and the Celerio this fiscal.” The Celerio hatchback has been a hot-seller in recent time, and with a diesel version on the cards, the sales numbers would definitely be skyrocketing.

      Maruti Suzuki plans on launching diesel version of Eeco van and Celerio hatchback
      Maruti Suzuki plans on launching diesel version of Eeco van and Celerio hatchback
       

      With the launch of the cars in a diesel variant, the Indian manufacturer aims at gaining an entry in commercial vehicle segment. V G Ramakrishnan, MD at Frost & Sullivan, South Asia, said, “Till now Maruti has not been able to enter several segments, and this will help plug one of those gaps. The only way to logically expand the Eeco range was to add a diesel, especially when the economics of CNG is not working out anymore with rising prices. This should help boost volumes, especially through sales for commercial applications and is important for Maruti since diesel cars still account for about 56% of industry volumes today.” Maruti Spokesperson has declined to speak more on the upcoming vehicles and has preferred being tight-lipped on the subject. But the official sources from within the company states that urban market has reached to a stagnant, whereas the rural market is growing. Hence, the company intends on focusing more on the rural market. An official said, “Today, the share of rural markets in total volumes stands at around 32%, from about 28% two years back and low single digits in 2008.”

      The existing petrol version of Eeco is powered by 1196cc Aluminium engine. The vehicle features multi-point injection technology that generates about 73 bhp of power at 6000 rpm with 101 Nm of torque at 3000 Rpm. The anticipated diesel version of Eeco is expected to be powered by 800cc engine. The Celerio comes with EZDrive technology which is a comfortable replacement of the manual shift. The current petrol version of Celerio is stated to be highly fuel efficient and delivers an impressive 23.1 kmpl. The Auto Gear Shift system has no manual clutch and thus there are only two pedals. It is based on an electronic control unit which drives the precision hydraulic actuator to control the clutch engagement and the gear shifting. It also ensures that the gear and clutch operations happen at optimal timings. Specification about the anticipated diesel version is unknown for now.

      Source: FE

      Maruti Suzuki