Maruti Alto To Be BSVI-Compliant Before 2020
As India’s largest selling car storms into the record books with a mammoth 35 lakh sales figure, the carmaker sets its eyes on the future by working on the Alto’s BSVI-compliant version
With the deadline for the implementation of BSVI emission norms looming large, Maruti Suzuki is getting ready to tackle one of the biggest challenges it will ever face in its 37-year dominant run in the Indian passenger car market. The Indo-Japanese carmaker has already begun working on turning its workhorse, the Maruti Suzuki Alto (800 K10), into BSVI-compliant machines. RS Kalsi, senior executive director of Maruti Suzuki, said, “The BSVI version of the Alto would be ready well before the (April) 2020 deadline.”
Both the 796cc and the 998cc petrol engines of the Alto siblings will be modified to work efficiently on cleaner BSVI fuel and thereby emit lower CO2 emissions. The Alto 800 and the Alto K10 share their engines with the Maruti Omni, Maruti WagonR and the Maruti Celerio. Once both these engines are upgraded, the other Maruti cars that draw power from these engines will also comply with the stricter emission norms.
However, switching from a BSIV- to BSVI-compliant engine is likely to increase prices of the Alto siblings by Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000. Prices of the Alto range currently start from Rs 2.51 lakh and go up to Rs 4.19 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).
When it comes to internal combustion engines, diesels require more work to make them cleaner to run in comparison to petrol engines. As a result, the impact on prices of diesel cars will be more. We expect BSVI diesel cars to be more expensive than their BSIV counterparts by as much as Rs 1 lakh.
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