Maruti Suzuki Crosses 10 lakh CNG Vehicles Sales Milestone

Maruti Suzuki has announced a new sales milestone with 10 lakh CNG cars sold in India a little over a decade after it launched its first CNG cars. Maruti has one of the most extensive CNG model line-ups with private buyers able to pick up models from the entry-level Alto to the seven-seat Ertiga. The CNG line-up also extends towards fleet buyers with models such as the Wagon R, Dzire (second-gen) and Ertiga also retailed under the Tour brand to fleet operators.

Commenting on the achievement of the new sales milestone, Kenichi Ayukawa, Managing Director & CEO, Maruti Suzuki India Limited, 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.”

A break up of the carmaker's cumulative sales reveals that the financial year (FY) 2021-2022 has been one of its best so far with a little over 2 lakh CNG vehicles sold as of February 2022. The cumulative figure stood at 7.98 lakh units at the end of FY 2020-21.

The growth of CNG sales could be attributed to a number of factors including Maruti's growing CNG vehicle portfolio, the government's initiative to make the fuel more widely available and the promise of lower running costs as compared to a petrol car. For a city like Mumbai, the price for petrol currently stands at Rs. 109.98 per litre with CNG in comparison costing Rs. 66 per kilo.

“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,” Ayukawa added.

Maruti's focus on offering the option of a CNG across a major part of its line-up has been apparent in the past few months. The carmaker was quick to re-introduce the option in the second-gen Celerio while the updated Wagon R received the option from the start. The third-gen Dzire was the latest model to get the option of a factory-fitted CNG kit leaving models such as the Swift and the Vitara Brezza as the only Arena models currently lacking a factory CNG option.