Maruti Suzuki is banking heavily on its CNG cars, and rightly so. During a recent press conference, Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer of Marketing & Sales at Maruti Suzuki India Limited, revealed that in August, the company witnessed 34 per cent of its sales coming from the CNG models. This means that every one out of three cars sold by Maruti in August was a CNG model.

Banerjee stated that the company has been witnessing a growth in the CNG segment by 28 per cent since April 2024. Led by Maruti Suzuki Ertiga, Brezza and Dzire, Maruti Suzuki sold 49,602 CNG cars in August, representing a 37 per cent year-on-year growth in the segment. Interestingly, the Maruti Suzuki Brezza became the best seller for the brand in August 2024 with total sale of 19,190 units followed by the Ertiga with 18,580 units sold in the month. 

Next logical step

Banerjee stated that the company saw 1,65,000 bookings in the month of August out of which 50,000 were for CNG models. This means that almost 40 per cent of the bookings are for the CNG models. In view of this growth, the company’s major focus is now on all the models and to cater to the customer based on their business needs.

Maruti Suzuki now intends to further move down to more towns where CNG is available, and to create an awareness among the customers that you can avail this technology. Banerjee pointed out that the company has drawn a roadmap for the year to focus on strong marketing campaigns for CNG models to further fuel the growth.

Maruti Suzuki intends to sell over six lakh CNG vehicles in the financial year 2024-25. This would mean that CNG portfolio will witness a 30 per cent increase in sales from the 4.5 lakh units sold by Maruti in FY24.

Currently, Maruti offers CNG variants across 14 variants across models such as the Alto, S-Presso, Celerio, WagonR, Baleno, Fronx and Brezza. Banerjee further hinted that the fourth gen Maruti Suzuki Swift CNG is also in the pipeline.

Focus on other clean fuels

Beyond CNG, Maruti Suzuki is also witnessing a surge in strong hybrid sales. The company entered into the hybrid market with the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara Hybrid variant in September 2022, while the portfolio expanded with the introduction of the Maruti Suzuki Invicto in July 2023.

Banerjee stated that last year Maruti’s hybrid sales contribution used to be around 9 per cent, however this year it has reached close to 16 per cent with the two models – Invicto and Grand Vitara.

The marketing head further emphasised that all technologies are important be it hybrid or electric vehicles. “EV has a place. A strong hybrid also has a separate set of customers. We need to take care of that," he explained. The company will showcase its first EV, the Maruti Suzuki eVX in the production form at the 2025 Bharat Mobility Global Expo. Additionally, the company plans to launch six new electric vehicles by FY30-31, including the eVX.

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