Maruti goes big on CNG, 5 models to sport variant

Maruti Suzuki is gearing up to bring in CNG variants of at least five of its models.

“We have worked on a superior gas injection system and five models of our range will be launched with CNG option in the next 15 days,” said I V Rao, managing executive officer.

The company has no plans to phase out or upgrade former flagship M800.

“In fact, we have not been selling the M800 in at least 13 states where the emission norms have been upgraded and enforced. The sales numbers have shown a dip, but we are not vacating the slot,” Rao said.

M800 sales dropped in July to 1,680 units from 2,796 units in July 2009.

The company has been upgrading all its products with K10 engine as the key change. This engine is expected to improve the fuel efficiency of the vehicles. Alto, another of the company’s big brands, has now been improved with K10 engine.

“We have sold 20,000 units of Alto in July. With the launch of the improved Alto K10, we expect these numbers to further increase. Though we have retained all the features of the existing Alto, K10 is the key change and it has been tested to give 20.2 kms per litre,” he said.

Rao said the company has been depending on a single diesel engine of 1.3 litres and there is no plan to offer diesel variants of its existing sub-1 litre models due to the lack of a suitable engine.