Up until now, Maruti, the leader in the Indian automobile industry, has been relying on Italian car maker Fiat to supply its diesel engines (more specifically, the 1.3-multijet-diesel engines). Because of this, Maruti has been unable to manufacture a variety of diesel cards to the Indian consumers. Now, Maruti is exploring the idea of manufacturing several diesels engines (including the standard 1.3litre) and reaching out to different segments in the process. At this point in the proposition, Maruit is exploring “a family of 3-4 diesel engines like 2-cylinder 800 cc that will power the LCV (Y9T) and a small car, and a 3-cylinder 1.2-litre engine and a 4-cylinder engine that could spawn out two different cubic capacities of 1.4-litre and 1.6-litre engines that are still on paper.”

The employees of Maruti who were involved with the development of diesel engines claim that the attempt to have the company’s own diesel engine began all the way back in 2009-10, but is actually being put into action today. The development of its first diesel engine (800 cc) has already hit a proto stage.

In terms of positioning, Maruti will not be the first to produce its own diesel engines in India, but the well established brand name will likely be used to promote this new idea successfully. Moreover, the production of these engines will also be used to power the bigger crossovers and SUVs for Suzuki, which will allow Maruti to target different segments in the future.

Although the Indian consumers are naturally well aware of the rising diesel prices, which could possibly reduce the demand for diesel cars in the future, Maruti’s sales forecasting claims that “people will still expect diesel cars in the future” regardless of the price increases. It seems like a reasonable prediction, so let’s see what happens!

Thekkar, Ketan. “Maruti Suzuki to Build Its Own Family of Diesel Engines.” The Economic Times. N.p., 8 Oct. 2013. Web. 8 Oct. 2013. <http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/auto/automobiles/maruti-suzuki-to-build-its-own-family-of-diesel-engines/articleshow/23666259.cms>.

“Our Financials.” Maruti Suzuki India Financials and Sales. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2013. <http://www.marutisuzuki.com/ourfinancials.aspx>.