Maruti has decided that its in-house 1.5-litre diesel engine will power its existing line of cars by end of 2019. The company plans on offering this unit on the Suzuki S-Cross to start of with, and later move on to other cars like the new Ertiga and even the Ciaz.
Maruti, according to this Autocar India report, has started production of its 1.5-litre engine and the company has claimed the change in engine and in its BS-VI form will end up forcing consumers to shell out Rs 1.5 lakh on the cars from here on.
The change of engine has been forced on the company, after its current engine provider, Fiat, will not be available to offer its unit which does not comply with upcoming emission norms.
Fiat and even Maruti knew that the 1.3-litre multi-jet diesel engine cannot be upgraded to BS-VI emission norms which kick in from April this year. It would simply be too expensive to do so (reports cite an investment of Rs 4,300 crore for this task). And to avoid major disruption, Maruti decided to work on its first-ever in-house diesel engine.
The new diesel engine will also get an upgraded 6-speed manual gearbox but everyone, including the competition, will be keeping a close eye on how Maruti’s first ever diesel engine performs and is received in the market with these aforementioned cars.
The cost of moving to BS-VI is going to pinch the auto industry, but Maruti not sourcing its engine from Fiat very soon, will be able to save some monies on the royalty costs the automaker has to pay.
These changes have been brought about after rising concerns for the environment in the country, amid rising pollution levels.
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