Maruti Suzuki Ertiga to soon come in a CNG variant

Maruti Suzuki India Limited, the country's largest passenger car maker, seems preparing for the launch of CNG variant of its much appreciated Multi Utility Vehicle (MUV), Ertiga in the Indian auto market. Sources close to the development process stated that the model will be introduced in only to trim levels, namely Lxi and Vxi. As the car maker will incorporated the CNG kit in the model, its price are expected to rise within a range of Rs. 30000 and Rs. 50000 than the simple variant.

It must be noted that May 2013 did not come as a favourable month for a number of auto makers, including the passenger car leader Maruti Suzuki India Limited, which reported a fall of 14.4 per cent. In fact, the sales of its some of the iconic models like Ertiga MPV and Swift hatchback also dwindled. Therefore, in order to offset the impact and capitalise on the increasing prices of both petrol and diesel, the auto maker has come with a plan of introducing CNG kit in its Ertiga.

However, the official launch of CNG fit model has been yet confirmed by the company officials. Industry experts are of a view that the introduction of CNG variant will surely help the auto maker in banking on the hurt sentiments of price sensitive Indian buyers, who have recently witnessed a fuel price hike. Also, Maruti Suzuki Ertiga will be the second model after SX4 sedan to come with all the three fuel options in the country. On this, a senior company official was quoted as saying, “The idea has been to have two fuel options available for every model. Normally, we offer a CNG option only on models that have a petrol as a lot of work is needed to modify the engine and the suspension.”