As per the information available from various sources, it is being expected that Maruti Suzuki India may roll out Maruti 800 Diesel in the Indian automobile market earlier than the Tata Nano Diesel. Notably, off late, Tata Motors has been in news due to the undertaking of the development of Nano diesel; however the launch date is not confirmed as of now. Earlier, Nano was introduced with a tag of 'people's car', but could not yield attractive sales, as expected by its manufacturer, while facing tough competition from other entry level hatchbacks. Unarguably, the iconic models of Maruti Suzuki like 800 and Alto are considered to be the biggest rivals of Tata Nano.
Industry experts are of a view that with the launch of a diesel variant of Nano in the Indian automobile market, Tata Motors is planning to widen its customer base while confirming to the fact that diesel versions are being increasingly favoured by domestic customers and car enthusiasts. However, with Maruti Suzuki appearing to be ahead in this desperate cat-war of developing and introducing diesel variants, many auto analysts apparently see it as an implied set back to the fruition plans of Tata Motors for Nano diesel.
There are sceptical news that Maruti Suzuki is concentrating hard on the development of ingenious 2-cylinder 800-cc diesel engine that may be used in Maruti 800. There are reports that the auto maker is also developing two more diesel engines, namely 1.2-litre and 1.4-litre, to be used in high end models. It must be noted that Chevrolet Beat currently has the smallest diesel engine in the country with a displacement of 996 cc.
At present, compact cars contribute to over 21 per cent of country's 2.7 million passenger vehicle market. However, there are still no entry level hatchbacks in the diesel category. Thus, the move is being seen as a key initiative to increase market share in the entry level segment of hatchbacks. A source close to the development, reportedly said, “The diesel engine plan is on the speed lane for Maruti. While the petrol model of the YL7 will be launched first around the Auto Expo, the start of production for the diesel variant is for later part of the year. The YL7 will be exported from India to various markets and, in some, will also be sold as the new Alto.” A senior Maruti official, requesting anonymity also confirmed the developments. However, company spokesperson plainly said, "We do not comment on our future models." Notably, here, YL7 can be seen as company's new global small car Maruti 800, but with an element of doubt as some industry experts refer this entire development for Alto 800 instead of Maruti 800.
With the introduction of an entry diesel variant, Maruti Suzuki is also planning to enhance its annual production capacity. At present, Manesar and Gurgaon plants can manufacture about 12 lakh cars annually. However, with the addition of this diesel model at Manesar, the annual production capacity is likely to go up to 15 lakh by the end of this year. The auto company further plans to touch an annual production capacity of about 20 lakh by the end of fiscal 2016 with the addition of a new unit at Gujarat.
