Low Demand for Diesel Maruti Swift, Almost Negligible for Diesel Baleno

Diesel engines seem to have lost the fight against the petrol engines on the sales graph. In line with this, Maruti, the largest carmaker of the country, will not sell even a single diesel model in the era of BS-6 emission norms that kick in on 1 April 2020. Thus, the carmaker would be axing 7 of its diesel cars, which include oil-burner-equipped variants of hotsellers like Maruti Swift and Baleno. Behind this act, Maruti has some strong facts to support its decision. According to Maruti, the sales dip in the diesel variants of its cars is a clear indicator that at least the small car buyers are no longer interested in shelling out a premium for purchasing a diesel vehicle over its petrol counterpart. 

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Out of all the Swift sold last year, only 20 per cent were powers by a diesel engine.

If numbers are to be considered, Maruti sold a total of 1,91,901 units of the Swift last year. Out of these, only 39,095 units had a diesel engine powering their front wheels, which is just 20 per cent of the total units sold. On the other hand, Maruti sold 1,83,862 copies of the Baleno hatchback and only 12,809 were powered by a diesel engine, which is just 7 per cent of the total sales figure.

Both Swift and Baleno were offered with a 1.3L turbocharged DDiS diesel engine. This unit was good to propel a peak power output of 75 PS and a max. torque of 190 Nm. However, after discontinuing the diesel engine, Maruti sells the Swift and Baleno with 1.2L K-series petrol motors. The gasoline powerplant belts out 83 PS and 113 Nm as its peak output. The Baleno also gets an optional 1.2L DualJet engine that has a higher state of tune and a higher compression ratio than the base motor. With the use of low-friction piston rings, it produces a max. output of 90 PS and 113 Nm.

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The DualJet motor seen on the Baleno would soon be making its way to the Swift by the end of this year.

The transmission options offered on the Swift are a 5-speed MT and a 5-speed AMT, while the Baleno can be had mated to either a 5-speed MT or a CVT. However, the DualJet motor on the Baleno comes mated to a 5-speed stick shift only. Maruti has recently introduced the DualJet petrol motor in the Dzire facelift and it is also expected to make its way to the Swift in a couple of months. With this engine, the Swift will become more powerful and frugal than the outgoing version.