Maruti Suzuki Planning to Introduce Petrol Variant of S-Cross

India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India is banking on the introduction of petrol variants of existing models such as Vitara Brezza besides exploring more CNG options to make up for lost numbers as it discontinues diesel options while moving to BS-VI emission norms.

The company, which last week showcased the petrol version of its popular compact SUV Vitara Brezza that was earlier available only in diesel option, is also gearing up to bring petrol version of its S-Cross model.

"We have the optimism to recover what we are losing in diesel through this increase in petrol. We have a double task. It is not like comparing current portfolio with next year, it is like current portfolio minus diesel in next year," Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Executive Director (Marketing & Sales) Shashank Srivastava said.

He said, "In the April-January period, the contribution of diesel vehicles to (MSI's) total sales was 21%. For this fiscal year it (total number of diesel vehicles sold by the company) is projected to be around 2.7-2.8 lakh units."

In April-January, the company sold a total of 12,45,197 units in the domestic market as against 14,66,987 units in the year-ago period, down 15.1%. "It is a marketing task and that's the challenge. We will try. Vitara Brezza petrol is one of the main (models to drive up petrol vehicle volumes)," Srivastava added.