Please Tell Us Your City

location icon
    location iconClose
      Sorry!! No Matching Results found. Try Again.
      Close

      Demand for petrol cars increasing in India

      Roger Dsouza

      Roger Dsouza

      Industry experts are of a view that the turnaround in the Indian auto market has taken place as the petrol models from key players like Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai India and Honda Cars are reporting waiting periods. In some findings, the list of delivery has been beyond a couple of months, which seems to be a treat for the auto makers in the currently dwindled scenario of the Indian auto market.

      Demand for petrol cars increasing in India
      Demand for petrol cars increasing in India
       

      The demand for petrol driven models of country's largest passenger car maker, Maruti Suzuki has increased by 5 per cent in the last couple of months. In the waiting list, the prominent models were Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV) Ertiga, Swift and Wagon R hatchback, and DZire sedan. A senior official of Maruti Suzuki told FE, “The demand for petrol cars has been increasing and we are increasing production. In a few petrol models, there is a waiting period now for the first time in a while, which we will take a month or two to match.”

      Demand for petrol cars increasing in India.
      Demand for petrol cars increasing in India.
       

      In the case of Hyundai India, the petrol versions of Eon and i20 hatchbacks hatches and the Verna sedan have been witnessing a similar situation. On this, the Senior Vice President for Sales and Marketing at Hyundai India, Rakesh Srivastava was quoted as saying, “The reduction in price differential will improve the sales of petrol models. The demand shift will lead to better utilisation of capacities and reduction in promotional offers in the coming months.”

      However, industry experts are of a view that Honda Cars India has mostly offered petrol models in its product portfolio, apart from the recently launched entry level sedan Amaze, which has been packed with a diesel engine. Owing to the same, the Japanese auto maker has registered a waiting period for its Brio automatic, City sedan, CR-V Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) and the Amaze petrol. Adding further to the statement, a top company quoted, “Ever since petrol prices started falling, we have seen a clear jump in enquiry levels.”

      Interestingly, the penchant for petrol cars among Indian buyers has developed as of a sudden, which increased their share by almost 5 per cent in quite a short span. It must be noted that till the last year, the share of petrol cars stood at 45 per cent and the rest was occupied by the diesel models. The reason for this recent fall in sales of diesel cars has been cited to the inverse fluctuation in the price gap of both petrol and diesel over the last few months.