Maruti Suzuki has utilized Fiat’s Multijet engines to its best advantage. The company sells four models with the said engine and it account for a major chunk of its sales in the country. However the 1.3-liter Multijet motor is not apt for use in smaller cars like the WagonR and A-Star, because of weight and cost reasons. Thus, India’s largest car maker plans to use a smaller, 1000 cc diesel engine on these cars. Now, Maruti Suzuki doesn’t have the expertise to develop its own diesel engines and thus is waiting for Fiat to produce a smaller motor to power its small cars. The petrol segment is getting competitive with the launch of new models from various other companies, leaving Maruti in a catch 22 situation. A small diesel engine will help the company ward off competition and help it to maintain market share.
“At the moment, we have a 1.3-liter diesel engine. Fiat is working on 1000 cc engines also. We don’t know the timeline, but surely, we will get these for our smaller cars,” Mr RC Bhargava, MD, Maruti Suzuki, said.
