India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) has breached the 50,000-unit mark with respect to the monthly sales of its CNG-equipped models, which went home to 53,431 buyers in September 2024, registering a significant growth of 36.1 percent over September 2023.
In the first six months (April-September 2024) of the ongoing financial year FY25, MSIL clocked overall CNG sales of 294,207 units, with CNG models contributing 27.66% percent to its overall sales, which were pegged at 1,063,480 units in this period.
While MSIL was the first carmaker to introduce factory-fitted CNG in its popular Wagon R hatchback in 2010, after exiting the diesel segment completely in April 2020, the company today offers CNG across its entire range, including models such as the Alto, S-Presso, Celerio, Dzire, Ertiga, Brezza, and the Grand Vitara, barring just the Jimny, Ignis, and Invicto.
The company also introduced the CNG version of its latest fourth-generation Swift hatchback on September 12, 2024, and has already seen the car clock 4,471 units in its first month itself. “We will register a significant growth of 50-60 percent on the latest Swift CNG, compared to the previous iteration of the model,” said Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing and Sales, Maruti Suzuki India.
If the company maintains its monthly average of 50,000 units of CNG car sales, it is well on its track of achieving its target of hitting the 6 lakh sales milestone by end-March 2025. “We have taken a target for every third car in our portfolio to be a CNG model. We aim to cumulatively hit 6 lakh CNG sales in FY25,” Banerjee highlighted.
While models such as the Ertiga CNG were in strong demand, witnessing wait times, up until a few months ago, MSIL says the supply situation is significantly improved now, and most cars are available almost immediately, or within a few weeks, owing to certain variant or colour preferences of the customer.