A few years ago, if you had a potent diesel option in your lineup, you were the king of the segment. This is the same era which ate Honda's popular petrol offerings: the City, Civic and the Accord. Although diesel is on a downfall and petrol cars are back in the game nowadays, it still contributes to a large chunk of sales. (Source: CarDekho.com)
Tata Zest 1.3 Quadrajet F-Tronic: The Zest was the first car in the compact sedan segment to feature a diesel-AMT combo. And it inspired Maruti to offer the same setup with the pre-facelift Dzire. The same has now been carried forward in the new one as well. The AMT version of the Zest gets an ARAI-certified fuel efficiency of 21.58kmpl. It is a pretty well-loaded car with features such as a Harman powered touchscreen audio system with an eight-speaker system, projector headlamps, LED tail lamps, among others.
Skoda Rapid 1.5 TDI DSG: Skoda Rapid is the VW Vento's alter ego in almost every way. With an ARAI-certified fuel efficiency of 21.72kmpl, the Rapid TDI DSG stands at the fourth position in this listicle. Actually, there's a tie between the Ameo and the Rapid as you can see there's hardly any difference. Just for the sake of 0.01kmpl, the Rapid got this spot. Though competing in the same segment, the Rapid is positioned as a relatively economical offering compared to the Vento. It received a thorough facelift last year and recently got a slight update, which includes bigger 16-inch wheels and a rear parking camera.
Volkswagen Ameo 1.5 TDI DSG: The Volkswagen Ameo is the only sub-4m sedan that offers the most advanced automatic, the 7-speed DSG. It is the most economical car in India to offer a modern dual-clutch automatic-diesel combo. The Ameo TDI DSG returns an ARAI-certified fuel efficiency of 21.73kmpl. The other two diesel-auto compact sedans the Dzire and the Zest come with a 5-speed AMT (automated manual transmission).
Volkswagen Vento 1.5 TDI DSG: Although marginally, the Volkswagen Vento outperforms both the Ameo and the Rapid in terms of overall fuel efficiency. VW first introduced the dual-clutch automatic-diesel combo with the Vento in 2014 and it became an instant hit! The Vento's 1.5-litre TDI diesel engine received a power bump post the introduction of the Ameo last year and now puts out 110PS (up by 5PS). The Vento TDI DSG returns an ARAI-certified fuel efficiency of 22.15kmpl.
Maruti Suzuki Dzire 1.3 DDiS AGS: Dzire not only tops the most fuel efficient diesel automatic sedans list, but also the corresponding petrol automatic one. This is all largely due to its new lightweight platform and improved aerodynamics, since it carries over the same 1.3-liter Fiat-borrowed diesel engine that did duty on the outgoing model. It boasts an ARAI-certified fuel efficiency of 28.40kmpl, which is even more than the Ciaz diesel equipped with a mild-hybrid tech. Interestingly, with 28.40kmpl, the new Dzire diesel automatic became the most fuel-efficient offering in the entire Indian auto space.