Maruti Suzuki Wagon R S-CNG contributed to over 35% of total CNG cars sold in India for the FY2021 period
Rising fuel prices in India, where petrol is sold at about Rs.100 per liter and diesel at Rs.85 per liter, has caused buyers to show more affinity towards more economical CNG vehicles. The ongoing pandemic situation in the country has also resulted in fear in using public means of transport and hence a distinct increase in demand for CNG vehicles have been noted.
Maruti Suzuki offers the WagonR, S-Presso, Alto, DZire, EEco and Celerio with CNG options while diesel options have all been discontinued since the introduction of BS6 emission standards. Total passenger vehicles sold by Maruti Suzuki in FY2021 stood at 12,93,840 units, down 8.5 percent over 14,14,346 units sold in FY2020. Of these, it was the petrol variants that were most in demand at 11,45,629 units, 89 percent of total sales while CNG sales were at 1,48,211 units.
Maruti Swift Best Selling Petrol Model
Maruti Suzuki Swift topped the list of petrol models in FY2021. Exclusively offered with a petrol engine, Swift sales stood at 1,72,671 units in the past financial year. The FY2020 period had seen sales divided between petrol and diesel variants to a total of 1,87,916 units.
The Baleno premium hatchback was at No.2 with sales of 1,63,445 units while it was the WagonR S-CNG that emerged as the best-selling CNG model in the company lineup. Petrol variants accounted for 1,00,108 units while there were a total of 60,222 CNG units sold in the FY2021 period.
This was a significant rise of 58 percent as against 38,347 CNG models sold in FY2020. In fact, the Maruti Suzuki WagonR S-CNG contributed to over 35 percent of the CNG cars sold in India for FY2021 of which 1,71,288 units were sold.
Maruti Suzuki Alto, DZire and Eeco also saw a fair share of CNG variants in demand while the Ertiga CNG was the second best-selling CNG model after the WagonR. Out of total sales of 88,571 units, 56,795 units of petrol and 31,779 CNG units were sold in the FY2021 period. Other models such as the Ignis, XL6, S-Cross and Ciaz, each of which are sold via the company’s NEXA outlets, are only offered in petrol engine options.
CNG Demand up 7 percent in FY2021
When assessing percentage growth of petrol and CNG for Maruti in FY2021 as against FY2020, it may be seen that petrol variants saw an increase in demand from 75 in FY2020 to 89 percent in FY2021 while CNG models which commanded a 7 percent share in FY2020 increased to 11 percent in FY2021.
The lack of diesel variants in the Maruti Suzuki lineup has not had much impact on sales. This is due to the narrowing gap between the two fuel prices and the significantly higher price tag that its diesel models would have carried due to the implementation of BS6 emission standards.
CNG is also a preferred alternative due to economic cost of running and improved CNG filling infrastructure. Considering the ever increasing demand for this type of fuel, there are more than 2,800 CNG stations across India, which are likely to surpass the 10,000 unit mark over the next 7-8 years.
