Saar: This is in pursuit to have “cleaner cars” in India before EV tech becomes feasible for customers.

India’s largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki, has big plans to produce “cleaner cars” in India using alternative technologies. Apart from developing pocket-friendly EVs (electric vehicles), which frankly is far into the future primarily due to the feasibility factor, Maruti Suzuki will cash in on CNG and hybrid cars. In fact, Maruti Suzuki is keen on partnering with the government or petroleum companies to push for CNG-powered vehicles in India.

Speaking to PTI, R C Bhargava, chairman, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL), said:

“We are going to try and push this acceleration in use of CNG, hybrid and other alternate technologies. We are going to push all technologies, and not limit ourselves to one technology.”

The main idea is to help the country curb oil imports and air pollution. While the former will help India in balancing trade deficits better and rely less on fossil fuels, the latter will surely go a long way in helping the citizens not falling prey to fatal medical conditions. Bhargava further added:

“The government has already put the use of CNG for transportation at higher priority than its use for power generation. We would like to use CNG for cars as far as possible. CNG is best suited for small cars.”

Bhargava pointed out that India, as an automotive market, is unique, with more than 75 per cent cars on roads costing less than Rs 5 lakh.

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Since the small cars make the major chunk of the Indian car scene, it is imperative that they need some kind of cleaner technology. While electrification is certainly a way to go, it isn’t the least expensive way of the lot. Until India produces its own EV tech, including EV batteries, pure electrics or hybrids won’t become cheaper to make or purchase. This is where the interim technologies like CNG, plug-in hybrids and mild hybrids come in. All these technologies deliver better mileage than their comparable fossil-fuel only counterparts while producing lesser harmful emissions too.

In Bhargava’s words:

“While certainly we need to push for electric cars, but we should not forget CNG, hybrids, ethanol and methanol. Our view is to keep all options open, put all these options in front of customer and then let him/her decide what is best suited for his/her requirements. Oil companies and we can co-ordinate our actions. They expand the sale outlets, we expand the production of CNG cars, so both go hand-in-hand in a coordinated manner.”

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The main takeaway from this development is that Maruti Suzuki is not bogging down in pursuit of EV tech becoming cheaper for cars in India. It is, as mentioned above, ready to foray in several other directions to make the car as eco-friendly as it can be before the all-electric tech is feasible enough for everyone. Based on how this develops further, we can expect Maruti Suzuki to launch more CNG and mild-hybrids in the near future. Presently, Maruti Suzuki offers CNG variants in small city cars like the WagonR, Alto 800, Alto K10 and the Celerio. Mild-hybrid tech is currently being offered in bigger cars like the Ciaz, Ertiga and the S-Cross.

Maruti Suzuki is currently building an EV battery plant in Gujarat to be future ready. It, along with Toyota, will make use of the locally produced EV powertrains and launch their respective set of EVs in India. But, don’t expect that to happen anytime soon.