Maruti Suzuki sells 1 mn S-CNG vehicles; expects demand to remain strong

India’s largest home-grown auto manufacturer Maruti Suzuki India Limited, on Tuesday, announced that its S-CNG vehicles have reached a milestone of 1 million units in terms of cumulative sales.  

Kenichi Ayukawa, Managing Director & CEO, Maruti Suzuki India, said, “We are humbled by the appreciation and positive response received by our S-CNG offerings. As a Company, our aim is to offer safe, reliable, clean, technologically advanced and environment friendly vehicles to our customers. Our S-CNG range is specifically designed, developed and manufactured at our facilities to suit the Indian driving conditions.”  

Currently, Maruti Suzuki offers the largest portfolio of 9 CNG vehicles — Alto, S-Presso, WagonR, Celerio, Dzire, Ertiga, Eeco, Super Carry and Tour-S — in the personal and commercial segment in the country. Additionally, Maruti Suzuki also plans to release CNG variants of its premium Nexa models like Baleno and Ciaz, as per media reports.  

“Today, there are already over 3,700 CNG stations making CNG more accessible to people. With Government’s target to reach 10,000 CNG stations across the country in the next few years, we expect the demand for CNG vehicles to remain robust. As a technology, CNG will play a bigger and significant role in reducing carbon emission of a large volume of passenger vehicles,” Ayukawa added.   

Maruti Suzuki’s plan towards widespread adoption of S-CNG vehicles are also aligned with the Indian government’s vision to reduce oil imports and increase the share of natural gas in the country’s energy consumption needs from current 6.2 per cent to 15 per cent by 2030.

Maruti Suzuki also revealed that its S-CNG models are conceptualised, designed, developed and rigorously tested at the company’s Research & Development facility before making them available to the customers. The company also claims that its S-CNG vehicles are integrated from the first stage itself to deliver safety, durability and high fuel efficiency.  

Maruti Suzuki’s CNG models also come with convenience features like auto change-over switch to toggle between CNG and Petrol modes, NGV receptacle special nozzle for faster and safer CNG refuelling and precision fuel level indicator.  

The Maruti Suzuki S-CNG range of vehicles also come equipped with:  

• Dual Interdependent ECUs with Intelligent Injection system
• Re-tuned chassis suspension & braking system
• Common rail based CNG injection system to make sure that there’s an optimal CNG fuel distribution and pressure

Maruti Suzuki factory-fitted S-CNG vehicles, when compared to other CNG options in the market, comes with safety features like:

• Microswitch to ensures that the vehicle stays off and doesn’t start while refuelling
• Stainless steel CNG pipes with ferrule joints to provide corrosion resistance and leak- proof design
• Dual solenoid system for additional safety measure in case of gas leakage as it auto-cuts fuel during a leak and releases pressurised CNG directly into the atmosphere
• Non-return valve mechanism to prevents back-flow of CNG gas
• CNG filler filter to protect the system from corrosion & dust particles
• Petrol mode ignition to help during cold start and also prevent wear & tear of engine components
• Integrated electrical system/ Integrated harness to minimise the chances of short-circuits