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CHENNAI: A <keyword id="6356109" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="diesel">diesel</keyword> vehicle means higher cost of acquisition but significantly lower fuel bills, right? Well, not quite. Thanks to falling <keyword id="6367091" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Petrol">petrol</keyword> prices and rising diesel fuel costs in recent months, the petrol-diesel gap is now at its slimmest since last June. Which means, the Rs 1-lakh premium (at the very least) that any diesel vehicle commands over its petrol variant now makes the former’s running costs steeper than a petrol car. The math is clear: Petrol cars, including running costs and cost of acquisition, are now cheaper to run than diesel vehicles. 
 First the figures. With the latest cut in petrol prices on Sunday, August 31, and regular increases in diesel prices by 50p, the petrol-diesel gap now spans a slim spectrum, ranging from Rs 9.15 to just over Rs 12. The gap between the two fuels in Delhi is Rs 9.54 per litre. It’s highest in <keyword id="6354925" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Kolkata">Kolkata</keyword> at Rs 12.33 per litre with Chennai and Mumbai at Rs 8.63 and Rs 9.15 per litre, respectively. 
 
On an average, a new vehicle gives a mileage of 14-15 km per litre. For 50 km a day — the average commute distance in most Indian metros — the vehicle will, therefore, consume nearly 4 litres of petrol. That works out to about 120 litres of petrol a month. 
 
 
 In Delhi, the fuel differential will, therefore, save you around Rs 1,100 a month if you’re driving a diesel vehicle rather than a petrol one. Ditto for Mumbai. The <keyword id="25450" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="savings">savings</keyword> are over Rs 1,000 a month in Chennai and nearly Rs 1,500 a month in Kolkata. Substantial? Not quite. 
 
Now consider the premium that you need to fork out to drive away with your diesel vehicle, and watch the math turn topsy turvy. A typical diesel car costs at least Rs 1,00,000 more than its petrol variant. 
 Let’s take a common example — the Maruti <keyword id="6911" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="suzuki">Suzuki</keyword> Swift. A best-selling car in both its petrol and diesel variants, the Swift petrol LXi base model costs Rs 4.42 lakh ex-showroom, Delhi. Its base diesel model LDi costs Rs 5.46 lakh ex-Delhi. 
 
Amortized over a typical loan period of four years, or 48 months, this just over Rs 1,00,000 differential means that the cost of acquiring a diesel vehicle is at least Rs 2,000 more each month. Which means even in the more fuel-expensive cities like Mumbai and Chennai, the monthly price differential between petrol and diesel, at just over Rs 1,000, is half of the premium that buying a diesel vehicle will impose on your pocket for the length of the loan period. 
 
This petrol-diesel math is responsible for the tide turning in favour of petrol vehicles in recent months. Top car marketers say the preference for diesel variants over petrol is down from 70:30 back in 2012 to 50:50 right now. Diesel’s small incremental price hikes mean it is nearly 14% costlier now than a year ago. Meanwhile, a decontrolled petrol price has seen some downward corrections. 
 
However, despite the slimmer differential, diesel still scores over petrol in terms of mileage. Explained Kumar Kandaswami, director, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India: “Diesel vehicles offer 15-20% better mileage which petrol variants will find difficult to match. So per km cost of diesel will always be better. But there is clearly a rebalancing going on and at this rate the market should settle at a 55:45 ratio between diesel and petrol vehicle sales.”

As Diesel Prices Rise, It’s Now Cheaper To Run Petrol Cars

NEW DELHI: Indian consumers are shifting back to petrol-run passenger vehicles that are set to start outselling diesel variants again after two years, boosted by falling petrol prices and the narrowing price gap between the two fuels. The changing demand trend amid a turnaround in the auto market is making manufacturers rework their production schedule in the run-up to the festival season when sales spike up. Diesel cars have enjoyed a smooth run for more than two years as the fuel costs less than petrol and offers better mileage, making such vehicles a preferred choice for India’s cost-conscious buyers. 
 
That is fast changing with the government phasing out diesel subsidy and petrol, which is deregulated since June 2010, getting cheaper. Diesel is nearly 14% costlier now than a year earlier, while petrol has become a bit cheaper year-over-year. The trend in the automobile market is quite pronounced on some models. 
 When <keyword id="1381889" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Honda-Cars-India">Honda Cars India</keyword> launched its compact sedan Amaze in 2013, the local unit of the Japanese major found 80% of the buyers going for the diesel version. The Amaze was <keyword id="20630" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Honda">Honda</keyword>’s first diesel offering in India and was launched to meet the then growing demand for cars that run on diesel. 
 
However, last month, just a little over half the buyers for Amaze chose a diesel variant. “Customers are now more educated over their needs and are not going blindly for diesel cars any longer,” said Jnaneshwar Sen, head for marketing and sales. Honda witnessed a similar trend for the new City, with just 50% of buyers preferring diesel in July compared with 70% at the time the mid-size sedan was launched in January this year. 
 
According to executives at car manufacturers that ET spoke to, the festival season that commences next month looks perfect for petrol cars to capture lost ground as the overall market is also on a recovery path with domestic sales recording three straight months of growth. They expect shift of customer preference for conventionally wiser petrol – maintenance cost of petrol cars is usually lower and fuel is more environment friendly – to continue, and are accordingly adjusting their strategies. 
 <keyword id="44883" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Maruti-Suzuki">Maruti Suzuki</keyword>, the country’s largest carmaker, has shelved plans for a new diesel engine plant at Gurgaon and is concentrating on its petrol models as it strives for higher market share. “While diesel car sales have declined 7%, sales of petrol cars have grown by almost 11% in the past few months,” said a senior executive. “Enquiries on and sales of petrol models have jumped in recent months.” 
 
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 Companies aren’t just altering production plans, but also offering petrol variants at aggressive price to tap the shift. “Customers are increasingly going towards petrol and keeping the same trend in mind, we aggressively priced the new car with the intention to increase the share in the premium hatchback segment,” said <keyword id="596" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hyundai">Hyundai</keyword>’s head for marketing and sales, Rakesh Srivastava. The company has invested $600 million in a hybrid engine manufacturing plant capable of producing both petrol and diesel engines on the same line to tackle shifting demand in the Indian market. 
 Overall ownership cost of diesel-fired vehicles has gone up, said Amit Kaushik, principal analyst, autos, at consultancy firm <keyword id="350927" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="IHS-Automotive">IHS Automotive</keyword>. Car companies are vying on the government policy that is further likely to dampen demand for diesel cars. 
 
Price gap between the two fuels now stands at just Rs 12 and may further close in coming months because of government strategy of increasing diesel price by 50 paise every month until it aligns with market rates.

Petrol-Run Cars Outselling Diesel Variants In India, Thanks To Narrow Margin Between The Fuels

In order to maintain the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Marutis-sales-rose-16-in-March-making-it-a-good-way-to-end-FY-15-16/articleshow/51648291.cms" target="_BLANK￿￿￿￿">double-digit growth rate</a> that it had in the last fiscal, India's largest car maker <keyword id="44883" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Maruti-Suzuki">Maruti Suzuki</keyword> has decided to add one new car and a new variant of an existing model to its portfolio. Both the cars will be retailed only through Nexa, its premium dealership network. 
 
The New Delhi headquartered company will be rolling out a compact vehicle, christened as Ignis, while also launching a version of the Baleno compact which would be sold as RS variant. 
 
"We plan to drive in these two cars around the festive season," said Maruti Suzuki director (marketing and sales) R S Kalsi. As of now, the Nexa stores sell the S-Cross crossover and Baleno, because they are positioned as more upmarket and premium. 
 
The new compact car Ignis will be pitched to customers as a smart city car. Even though Nexa stores don’t have the variety of small cars, the company hopes to widen the choice at Nexa outlets with Ignis. Ignis was showcased at the auto expo at Greater Noida at the beginning of this year, describing it as a "smart compact urban vehicle". 
 
Baleno’s RS variant will come with a 1-litre direct injection, turbo-charged petrol engine, which would be more fuel-efficient, smaller in size and able to deliver a power output higher to the existing 1.2-litre petrol variant. It will carry a bold and aggressive design language, so that it can be pitched as a sportier variant. 
 
Baleno, which has been named after an earlier model from the company, has seen a sale of around 45,000 units. On the other hand, another new car from Maruti, Vitara Brezza, has seen over 38,000 bookings so far. 
 
<a href="https://marutistoragenew.blob.core.windows.net/nexaexperience/img/b-gal/exterior/ext-9.jpg">Image source</a>

Maruti Suzuki is on a roll, will launch a new car Ignis and a Baleno variant this year

<keyword id="6358070" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="mumbai">Mumbai</keyword>, Automobile manufacturer <keyword id="42747" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tata-Motors">Tata Motors</keyword> on Saturday launched the 'i-Turbo' <keyword id="396427" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="variant">variant</keyword> of its premium hatchback, <keyword id="7364940" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="altroz">Altroz</keyword>. The variant's petrol version starts at ₹8.25 lakh while the diesel version costs ₹9.45 lakh. As per the company, 'iRA' comes with 27 connected car features along with natural voice tech, through which the car understands commands not only in 'English or Hindi, but also in Hinglish'. Besides, it is <keyword id="3658" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>'s first hatchback to introduce What3Words technology - a precise &amp; unique tool that makes navigation easier than before. The new variant is powered by a 1.2L turbocharged <keyword id="2941346" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="BS6">BS6</keyword> petrol engine. Additionally, the Company has added a new top of the line 'XZ+' variant in a petrol and diesel fuel option to the Altroz family. Tata Altroz was the first product on the 'ALFA' architecture. It was launch in January 2020. Over 50,000 Altroz units have been sold within its first year of the vehicle's launch. "We are delighted to share that with its introduction, in FY21, our market share in the hatchback category has increased by 5.4% compared to last fiscal and we have captured 17% market share in the premium hatch segment," said Shailesh Chandra - President, Passenger Vehicles Business Unit, Tata Motors. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/policy/economy/news/recession-in-india-will-end-latest-by-march-says-a-top-economist/articleshow/80399198.cms">Recession in India will end latest by March, says a top economist</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/amazfit-smartwatch-gts-2-review-feature-rich-but-theres-still-room-for-improvement/articleshow/80398998.cms">Amazfit GTS 2 review – feature-rich, but there’s still room for improvement</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/whatsapp-to-soon-introduce-voice-and-video-calls-for-web-multi-device-support-jiomart-integration-and-more/articleshow/80398791.cms">WhatsApp to soon introduce voice and video calls for Web, multi-device support, JioMart integration and more</a>

Tata Motors launches premium hatchback Altroz's i-Turbo variant, starts at ₹8.25 lakh

New Delhi, Jun 8 () Diesel models will continue to be an important part of Honda's product range in India in the BS-VI regime, even with market clearly shifting towards petrol vehicles, a senior company official said. The automaker, which is present in the country through a wholly owned subsidiary, aims to keep offering diesel trims in four of its models out of the total six products it currently sells in the country. "Although there is an increasing shift in market preference towards petrol, but we believe that the demand for diesel will not vanish immediately," Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) Senior Vice President and Director (Marketing and Sales) Rajesh Goel told . "Hence, in our BS-VI line up, we have strategically decided to offer diesel models in specific segments in line with our customer's preference," he added. In 2019-20, petrol variants accounted for 80 per cent of company's overall sales, but the trend differed in each of the product segment, Goel said. Elaborating further, he said that the contribution of diesel trims continues to be quite significant in two of its sub-four metre models, WR-V and Amaze, hence they are being offered with both petrol and diesel powertrains, Goel said. "On the other hand, customers for the premium hatchback Jazz are increasingly opting for petrol model, and hence the new Jazz will be offered in petrol variants only," he noted. The launch of BS-VI Jazz is some time away, Goel said. The fifth generation City, which is all set for debut in the country, will have BS-VI compliant petrol and diesel trims, while the Civic already has a BS-VI petrol engine since March 2019. "We will soon be launching the Civic with a BS-VI diesel engine, depending on the production resumption for the model," Goel said. The CR-V will continue in petrol model only, he added. "Our CR-V customers continue to show natural preference for petrol model and hence in order to maintain a lean variant line up and stay focused on our core customer category, we have decided to retain only petrol variant for CR-V," he said. MSS RVK

You Searched For "petrol variant cars" and got 5 results

As Diesel Prices Rise, It’s Now Cheaper To Run Petrol Cars

Times Of India

Petrol-Run Cars Outselling Diesel Variants In India, Thanks To Narrow Margin Between The Fuels

Economic Times

Maruti Suzuki is on a roll, will launch a new car Ignis and a Baleno variant this year

BI India Bureau

Tata Motors launches premium hatchback Altroz's i-Turbo variant, starts at ₹8.25 lakh

IANS

Diesel models to continue to co-exist with petrol trims in BS-VI era: Honda

PTI

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