Due to the rapidly increasing demand for it’s diesel cars coupled with production problems that keep bugging India’s largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki India has finalised a deal to buy diesel motors from Italian manufacturer Fiat. Fiat’s diesel engines, christened the multijet, currently power the Swift, Dzire, SX4 and Ritz
Swift comes with the Fiat 1.3 Multijet engine
As per the deal, Fiat has to provide as many as 1 lakh diesel engines per year to Maruti and this deal will help Maruti bump up the output of Swift hatchback from January 2012. It should also help reduce the waiting period for Swift/Dzire and other Maruti cars that use the 1.3 Multijet engine.
It is no secret that we Indians dish out a substantial part of our earnings on purchasing petrol and there are fair chances of the petrol prices to rise further in near future. This has acted as a catalyst to the increasing demand for diesel cars but Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) is falling short of meeting it. It may be noted that earlier this month, MSIL bumped up it’s diesel car prices by as much as Rs 10,000 rupees but this move did not bring down the popularity of diesel powered Maruti cars.
This deal should not just benefit Maruti, but will also help the Indian division of the Italian car maker reduce its losses. For those who are all set to wait for as many as 6-7 months may rejoice, for they may get to drive home their car earlier.
@ Chaitanya- The traffic cops can still catch hold of you and question you for the papers and fine you. It's only the Waden's, the guys in the blue n white dress who aren't allowed.