Other fuels should be explored to reduce dependence on fossil fuel, says Maruti Suzuki chairman

RC Bhargava1

Switching completely to electric cars is not the right approach to reduce dependence on petrol and diesel, said Maruti Suzuki Chairman RC Bhargava.

The car industry should instead explore promoting alternate fuel technologies such as compressed natural gas (CNG), ethanol and methanol until electric cars gain momentum with buyers. Hybrids, which offer a combination of fossil fuel and battery technology, should also be looked at as an option, Bhargava noted.

"As we gradually increase the percentage of electrified vehicles, a very large number of internal combustion engine vehicles would also be produced to meet the total demand. It would obviously be better to use alternative technologies and fuels that reduce the consumption of petrol and diesel, rather than produce only electric cars and internal combustion cars," said the chairman.

His apprehension stems from the fact that electric cars cost more than double as compared to petrol cars and it is important to bring down their price to make them available for the mass market.

"The Indian car market is unique in that 75 percent of the cars sold are below 4 meters in length and cost under Rs 6.5 lakh at factory level.  Electrification of these cars, in the short term, has to be considered in terms of their affordability as well as the creation of the required charging infrastructure all over the country. In the longer term these cars would be electrified, subject to battery and other technology development leading to the affordability barrier being overcome," Bhargava pointed out.

Meanwhile, the company said that work on the second and third lines of the new plant in Gujarat is on schedule and should be commissioned in early 2019 and 2020, respectively.

"We hope that the 2 million mark will be reached in the next financial year and the next goal is 3 million cars a year by 2025," Bhargava said. Maruti Suzuki has 16 models with around 600 variants.

Last year, the company clocked sales of 1.64 million units in the domestic car market, a rise of nearly 14 percent. The company's market share stood at 50 percent in the passenger vehicle segment in 2017-18 as per SIAM data. Another 1.23 lakh units were exported, which was a rise of nearly 2 percent.

To continue sales growth, the company has made significant progress in procuring land parcels for future sales and service outlets. It is working on the acquisition of land for around 370 locations.

"A substantial part of these land parcels is in the top 10 cities. Going forward, the focus will be on acquiring land in emerging cities. A large part of acquired land will be used for setting up smaller service workshops to have a larger footprint," the company said in a statement.