Maruti Suzuki sells a million green cars in a decade, targets next million “in a couple of years’

Maruti Suzuki India, which will be exiting the diesel market from April 2020, today announced an aggressive plan to sell one million green cars over the next few years under its ‘Mission Green Million’.

To attain this goal, the company will offer a bouquet of options for customers comprising CNG, hybrids and electric cars. With the launch of CNG-powered cars in 2010 and Smart Hybrid in 2015, the carmaker says it has cumulatively sold one million green vehicles in India. Since 2010, the carmaker, which currently has eight of its most popular models with CNG power, has sold over 600,000 such cars. In 2015, beginning with the Ciaz sedan, it launched Smart Hybrid technology and expanded it to four more models.

Speaking at the Auto Expo today in New Delhi, Kenichi Ayukawa, managing director and CEO, Maruti Suzuki India, said: “In the coming times, we are committed to expand our CNG portfolio to include many more models. I am thankful to the government for the commitment to strengthen CNG retail infrastructure in the country. The government’s commitment to set-up 10,000 CNG pumps by 2030 will benefit the customer.”

Ayukawa added, “Maruti Suzuki is committed to the national agenda of safe, sustainable and environment-friendly products. Along with green products we follow the green philosophy in our business and across our value chain.

We continue to promote business activities that reduce impact on environment. Sourcing green products through green manufacturing facilities is integrated into our business. Taking a 360-deg approach towards the environment, Maruti Suzuki also ensures an environment-friendly recycling of End-of-Life vehicles.”

Launching ‘Mission Green Million’ at the Auto Expo today, Ayukawa “Mission Green Million is our commitment to bring advanced powertrain technologies for the Indian customers. In this mission, ‘Make in India’ will be our core philosophy. S-CNG and Smart Hybrid technologies on Maruti Suzuki cars have seen huge acceptance by customers. We have complete faith in the future of Indian automotive market and will accelerate our efforts for electrification of powertrains, with a technology agnostic approach. Our endeavor will be to offer realistic solutions for mass acceptance by customers.”

Futuro-e concept revealed
In line with the eco-friendly mission, Maruti Suzuki today showcased its Futuro-e coupe SUV concept. Ayukawa said, “Concept Futuro-e is a design study. It presents possibilities of a new global design language for the SUV segment. The segment has recently seen a tremendous surge in popularity. A coupé-styled SUV is a first from Maruti Suzuki stable and we are confident customers will like it.”

Conceptualised and designed by Maruti Suzuki designers, the Futuro-e envisages a fresh design interpretation for the SUV segment and is targeted at India’s young and aspirational youth. Maruti Suzuki says the concept is future-ready with a wide array of powertrain options like hybrid and pure EV.

The concept features flexible swivel travel seats and console which give occupants an unparalleled comfort and freedom to engage freely infotainment features

The futuristic blue and ivory high contrast colour scheme accentuates the floating concept of the interior. Techno-finished materials, inspired by nature, have been used extensively on the trims.  The subtle use of translucency effect on the upper instrument panel enhances its techno-futuristic feel. 

Wide sweeping HMI (Human Machine Interface) and layered secondary screens ensure all vehicle-related information is available on a single touch for a futuristic driving experience to the customer.