MARUTI SUZUKI TO SET UP A DIESEL ENGINE PLANT IN GURGAON, IN A MOVE THAT COULD REDUCE WAITING PERIODS DRAMATICALLY!

“If it’s a Maruti and a diesel one at that, be prepared to endure long waiting periods”, is the current sentiment of the car buyer. Despite this, the demand for Maruti Suzuki’s diesel cars has only been getting stronger each passing month, in a sheer display of the confidence the brand enjoys amongst the car buying populace in India. Maruti Suzuki is India’s largest car maker with every one of two cars sold in India being a Maruti. In a welcome development of sorts, Maruti’s board has given an in principle approval for the automaker to set up a diesel engine plant at Gurgaon.

This plant, when ready could produce up to 100,00o diesel engines per year, for Maruti Suzuki’s range of cars. No prizes for guessing which engine Maruti will put together at the Gurgaon dieset engine plant, the 1.3 Liter Fiat Multijet diesel engine a.k.a our national engine, will be what Maruti will produce at the new diesel engine plant. Just last week, Maruti signed an agreement with Fiat India, to secure a supply 100,000 diesel engines per year, for the next 3 years. Maruti Suzuki’s diesel engine’s plant at Gurgaon, will be additional to the Fiat engine supply.

Second Generation Fiat 1.3 Liter Multijet Diesel Engine

This move from Maruti comes even as speculations are rife on the 2012 Union Budget imposing an additional tax on diesel engined cars. Does Maruti’s board know something that we don’t? That is something we’ll find out only after the budget. For now, Maruti Suzuki seems to be well equipped to launch more cars with diesel variants, like the Maruti WagonR and even perhaps the A-Star. Once the diesel engine plant at Gurgaon gets ready, Maruti Suzuki will have access to over 200,000 diesel engines a year, in addition to what Suzuki Powertrain supplies it with currently. Needless to say, waiting periods could go down quite significantly.

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