Maruti Suzuki targets one million green

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) is now targeting one million sales of green vehicles in the current financial year. The company's senior executive officer for marketing and sales, Partho Banerjee, announced the raised goal, which covers CNG, hybrid, and electric vehicles. This new target represents an increase from the previous projection of 800,000 to 900,000 units.

Banerjee cited structural tailwinds, including rising crude oil prices and the introduction of automatic transmission in CNG variants, as key drivers for the ambitious goal. The company, which holds a dominant 70 percent share of India's CNG car market, launched automatic S-CNG versions of its popular Swift, Dzire, and Baleno models on Friday as part of its Auto Green Mission.

New automatic CNG models target convenience

The new launches specifically target customers who want the running-cost benefit of CNG but have been unwilling to compromise on the convenience of an automatic transmission. Banerjee explained that CNG models previously lost sales to petrol-automatic combinations because they lacked automatic options. "This opens CNG to a segment that was previously unaddressed," he said during a media roundtable. The company is banking on these new models to attract what it calls "new-age customers who refuse to compromise."

When asked if high crude prices, hovering around $100 per barrel, would help amplify green vehicle adoption, Banerjee was clear. Yes, no doubt about it, he stated. We are aiming for close to almost 1 million sales (FY27). The company currently sells close to 80,000 CNG vehicles per month, providing a strong base for scaling up.

Supply constraints challenge growth

Despite strong demand, the primary constraint to higher CNG volumes is on the supply side, not customer interest. Banerjee revealed that the company faces a capacity restriction on total CNG vehicle production, which currently stands at 18,000 units per month. I am playing with the CNG vehicles by allocating it based on my waiting periods, he said. He expressed hope that as production capacity is ramped up, the company can unlock higher sales volumes. As soon as they are able to further increase the CNG supplies, we can take it to the next level, Banerjee added.

Within Maruti Suzuki's own portfolio, CNG penetration is already around 43 percent. This established base gives the company a platform for expansion rather than needing to build demand from scratch. When questioned if the new launches could push CNG penetration to 50 percent of the green portfolio this fiscal year, Banerjee was cautiously optimistic. If we get the supplies, we are very hopeful... Let's keep our fingers crossed, he said.

Model specifications and pricing

The company claims its newly launched Dzire automatic S-CNG is India's most fuel-efficient sedan, with a fuel efficiency of 36.47 km per kilogram. The models are being introduced with the following ex-showroom prices:

Maruti Suzuki's strategy hinges on leveraging its commanding position in the CNG segment to achieve its one-million-unit green vehicle sales target for FY27. The success of this plan is contingent upon overcoming current production bottlenecks to meet what the company describes as robust customer demand.