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Maruti Suzuki bets big on diesel cars
Posted on 29 Aug 20126,987 Views Comments
New diesel engine plant due next year in Gurgaon will have initial capacity of 1.5 lakh engines per year. Capacity to double by 2014
Maruti Suzuki India today said it is "examining" having more diesel engine capacity than it has currently planned in order to have an overall 40 per cent market share in the domestic passenger vehicle market.
"If we want to have 40 per cent of market share, we would have to have more diesel cars and engines," Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Chairman R C Bhargava said.
Addressing shareholders during the annual general meeting of the company, he further said, "If people are having 80 per cent of their sales in diesel, we cannot be a predominantly petrol car maker".
For the period April-July this fiscal, MSI's share in the domestic passenger vehicle market stood at 38.61 per cent at 3.34 lakh units, as per Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers.
Talking about the company's future plans on diesel engines, Bhargava said: "By 2014, we should have a total capacity of 7 lakh diesel engines. We are also examining if we would need more diesel engine capacity after that if the (fuel) policy remains as it is today".
He said with the ever increasing gap in the prices of petrol and diesel fuels, the demand for diesel cars have soared while that of petrol has gone down, leading to an overall decline in car sales.
In order to meet its requirements, the company is setting up a diesel engine plant at Gurgaon with an investment of Rs 1,700 crore. It will start production next year with an initial capacity of 1.5 lakh which would go up to 3 lakh by 2014.
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