With diesel engines losing big time on their popularity, Maruti Baleno and Swift, two of the most popular small cars in India, saw only a fraction of its buyers opting for the diesel variant
Maruti Suzuki, the country’s largest-selling carmaker, has decided to stop selling diesel vehicles in the BSVI era. This will straightaway mean the discontinuation of 7 diesel-powered models. The decision to discontinue diesel cars comes at the back of the fast dipping popularity of diesel vehicle. With the price gap between petrol and diesel cars further increasing, it makes sense for Maruti to say goodbye to its diesel models.
Even last year, the diesel variants of its popular models accounted for only a small portion of the total sales. Maruti Swift and Baleno, which are the two most popular hatchbacks on sale in the country, witnessed much higher demand for their petrol variants as compared to that for the diesel-powered models.
While only 20 per cent of the total Maruti Swift sold last year were kitted out with a diesel engine, the demand for the diesel variant of Maruti Baleno was even lower at just 7 per cent. In all, Maruti sold 191,901 copies of the Swift, of which only 39,095 came from the diesel variant. On the other hand, only 12,809 units out of 183,862 units of Baleno were powered by a diesel engine.
It’s important to mention here that the diesel variants of both Maruti Swift and Baleno came equipped with a 1.3-litre DDiS engine that offered a maximum power of 75PS and a peak torque of 190Nm. The turbocharged motor, which is a Fiat-sourced unit manufactured under licence by Maruti Suzuki, came equipped with a fixed geometry turbocharger.
With the discontinuation of the diesel engine, both Baleno and Swift will be now available only with a 1.2-litre K-series engine that outputs 83PS and 113Nm. While he Swift is available with a 5-speed MT and a 5-speed AMT, the Baleno is being sold with a 5-speed MT and CVT.
The Baleno is also available with a 90PS K12N Dualjet petrol engine that has recently made it to the Dzire. The same engine is also likely to make it to the Swift in the coming days. The more powerful motor not only offers a higher power output but even better fuel efficiency.