Maruti Suzuki says every third car it sells is CNG

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd expects sales of compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles to rev up as city gas distribution companies set up fuel stations and build infrastructure in Tier-II and Tier-III cities.

“This year (April-August) we are growing at a year-on-year rate of 30% in CNG. Every third vehicle which we are selling from our stable happens to be a CNG vehicle. The contribution of our CNG vehicles to total sales is 33%,” says Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer, Marketing and Sales, Maruti Suzuki.

The top 5 markets for CNG cars are Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi. These contribute nearly 70% to total CNG sales and have 58% of all CNG stations across the country. The next five markets are Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana, contributing 21% to CNG sales. The top 10 markets are contributing 90% to total CNG sales currently.

“There are nearly 7,000 CNG pumps in India as of August 1, 2024. 34 city gas distribution companies are operating the country. They have a robust expansion plan for Tier-2 and Tier 3 cities,” Banerjee says. “As the expansion happens in Tier 2, Tier 3 cities, we are going to see a huge upside from here,” he adds.

India’s largest carmaker plans to sell 6 lakh CNG cars this fiscal. It has already sold 2.21 lakh CNG vehicles in the first five months of FY25. In FY24, Maruti Suzuki sold 4.77 lakh CNG cars.

Ertiga is the top selling CNG model for Maruti Suzuki, where 63% of sales come from the CNG variant.

On Thursday, Maruti Suzuki launched a CNG variant of the new Swift. The company claims it delivers a fuel-efficiency of 32.85 km/kg.

“In the previous Swift, the contribution of CNG sales was 15%. In the last four months we have seen there is a good demand from the market. In the festive season when we launch this variant, we are going to see good traction,” says Banerjee.

The target profile of customers who buy CNG variants is different from those who go for petrol variants, as per Banerjee. “They are looking for the total cost of ownership. Any customer who is running a vehicle more than 2,000 kms per month, it makes huge sense for him to go for CNG variants,” he explains.

Maruti will start deliveries of CNG Swift in the Gujarat market first.

Infrastructure development by gas distribution is going to be the only factor that will drive up CNG sales, says Banerjee. “In Punjab, Bihar, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, city gas distributors are increasing their footprint. These states will also be a major market for CNG soon,” he says.

Maruti Suzuki began the production of CNG vehicles in India back in 2010. Since then, it has sold over 2 million CNG vehicles to date. It offers the widest range of 14 CNG-powered vehicles across all body styles.

“Last fiscal year, our CNG sales in the passenger vehicle category witnessed a 46.8% growth compared to Financial Year 2022-23 and registered a CAGR of around 28% since 2010,” says Banerjee.