Maruti Suzuki India Limited, formerly known as Maruti Udyog Limited, is the Indian subsidiary of Japanese auto maker Suzuki Motor Corporation. The car manufacturer is known for developing value-for-money cars and has earned its name as the most trusted car brand of the country. Since its establishment in the last century, Maruti Suzuki has set the trend of offering high mileage hatchbacks and is now venturing into the Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) market pretty soon. Maruti 800, the company's first car that took the industry by storm targeted the major sect of India's population, the middle class. The immensely popular hatchback was discontinued sometime back and was replaced by Alto 800. The company has already completed three decades in the Indian automobile industry and has offered some best selling models such as Maruti Suzuki WagonR, Swift and Swift DZire.
With the rise in petrol prices, people have started preferring diesel engines which is why almost all major players engaged in the production of oil burners. As of now, cars by Maruti Suzuki that provide the option of a diesel engine include Ertiga, Ritz, SX4, Swift and Swift DZire. Out of these, Maruti Suzuki Swift and Swift DZire happen to be the best performers till date. The sedan, Maruti Suzuki DZire comes equipped with a 1248 cc Multijet diesel engine that has the ability to deliver 73 bhp of maximum power with 190 Nm of peak torque. Interestingly, the same engine has been packed within the Maruti Suzuki Swift, which happens to be a hatchback.
Another model by Maruti Suzuki that has the option of diesel engine is SX4, which comes incorporated with a 16V DOHC, DDIS powertrain, churning out a peak power of 88.8 bhp. On the other hand, Maruti Suzuki Ritz has a 4-cylinder 1248 cc engine that generates 74 bhp at 4000 rpm and offers a fuel efficiency of 23.2 kmpl. There are a lot of advantages associated with a diesel engine over the petrol one especially because of better deliverance of fuel efficiency. Going through its technicalities, the calorific value of diesel is higher than that of petrol and subsequently, the energy output per unit volume of diesel is better than petrol. Diesel cars happen to be beneficial for people travelling long distances as they provide better torque and fuel economy. Moreover, in India petrol prices are way higher as compared to diesel therefore it attracts a lot of people towards diesel cars. It must be noted that for price sensitive domestic buyers, diesel engines give a complete package of good mileage, longevity and cheap fuel.
Until now, Maruti had been dependent on Fiat for its 1.3 Multijet diesel engines due to which it has not been able to offer a variety in this car section. However, it now has plans to churn out its own family of engines so that customers can avail from a wider portfolio of diesel run cars. “For me, rising diesel prices is a big headache. We have already started developing a diesel engine. We are studying how diesel prices will move further in the future. But people will still expect diesel cars in the future," told Kenichi Ayukawa, Managing Director, Maruti Suzuki to the media when quipped about the company's foray into its own series of diesel engines.
It has been outsourced that Maruti Suzuki is planning to release a few diesel engined cars ranging from hatchbacks to Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs). The company has been involved into a lot of study and analysis at its research and development department at Rohtak, Haryana. As per speculations, a 2-cylinder 800 cc light commercial vehicle (LCV) codenamed (Y9T) and a small car (YL7) powered by diesel engines are to be launched in the near future. Besides, a 3-cylinder 1.2-litre engine and a 4-cylinder engine having capacity of 1.4-litre and 1.6-litre engines could also be developed in certain upcoming bigger crossovers and SUVs by the largest passenger car maker of the country.
