Maruti Suzuki India, which accounts for seven out of every 10 CNG cars sold in the domestic market, plans to sell 450,000-475,000 CNG models in the new fiscal 2024 compared with 325,000 in FY23, said senior executive officer, sales and marketing, Shashank Srivastava.
“The demand for CNG models has been strong and the price cut is set to skew the demand further in their favour as compared to diesel and petrol,” Srivastava told ET. The latest emission rules (real driving emission) have increased the acquisition cost of diesel vehicles. Also, the price advantage which diesel as a fuel enjoyed over petrol has been blunted, making CNG a more attractive option, he stated.
After the government last week revised the formula for fixing domestic gas price, Indraprastha Gas cut its CNG price by ₹6 per kg – the first price cut by India’s largest city gas distribution company in two years. Adjusted for the calorific value, CNG has an advantage of around 30% over petrol. The CNG variants cost ₹80,000-90,000 more than the petrol-powered vehicles, but the widening CNG price difference reduces the payback period for the buyer.
Hyundai Motor India, the second largest passenger vehicle maker by sales, also expects the price cut to boost demand for CNG models.
“The price cut on CNG is expected to give a fillip to our CNG model sales by an average 10-15% and monthly average sales should go up from 5,000-5,200 units in calendar 2022 to 6,000 units gradually during 2023,” said chief operating officer Tarun Garg.
Sales of CNG models at the Korean carmaker increased to 63,058 units in calendar 2022 from 37,584 units the year before. If not for supply-related constraints, the volumes would have been higher, said Garg.Hyundai recently announced that it would cease to offer diesel-engine options in sedans and compact cars and offer diesel only for SUVs.
On whether the company is likely to give greater thrust to CNG in the absence of diesel powertrains in sedans and compact car segments, Garg said: “We can’t have a single solution for all the segments.” For instance, for performance models like Verna, petrol turbo works the best in addition to petrol. But for Aura, CNG that contributes 74% to the model’s sales makes more sense, he explained.
