There have been reports that Maruti Suzuki has been planning to shelve the diesel version of the Celerio hatchback. The move is thought to have come after the negative sentiments the market has attracted over diesel engines.
Diesel has had a lot of incidents impacting it negatively over the past couple of years. The NGT ban, the dieselgate scandal, higher emission, etc. Petrol and diesel prices narrowing their differences in price is also considered as an important factor, as petrol is the preferred fuel option in India by default.
All major car manufacturers in India including Maruti Suzuki Bikes, Hyundai, Tata Motors, etc. reported decline in sales of diesel-powered cars compared to petrol-powered cars. The balance shifted towards petrol by 60 percent sales reported for petrol-powered cars and 40 percent sales for diesel-powered cars.
The market is also still circumspect, as buyers expect further adversity, when it comes to diesel engines. And since most of the car sales in India is for hatchbacks, petrol cars are dominant, when it comes to small cars.
Meanwhile, Suzuki is not also interested in investing in diesel engines to make them compliant to Euro VI norms. Since diesel engines in small cars may not be hugely welcome, Suzuki considers it prudent to not invest in upgrading to Euro VI regulations.
So, if Suzuki invests in the diesel-powered Celerio, it could lead to it priced higher than the petrol variant. This can lead to a further low turnout in sales of diesel-powered Celerios. Hence, Maruti Suzuki has decided to do away with the Celerio in its diesel form.
The Celerio’s engine, being the first diesel engine, developed by Suzuki with an investment of Rs. 900 crores has cranked it up for the Japanese carmaker, as sales of diesel-powered cars began to dwindle. So, Suzuki will further save from making future investments by likely shelving the Celerio.
The Celerio runs on a 2-cylinder, 793 cc, DDiS diesel mill that churns out 47 bhp of power at 3,500 rpm and 125 Nm of torque at 2,000 rpm.
Source: Vicky.in
