[swiftnfurious]

Maruti is going to introduce a CNG version of the Ertiga MPV shortly, says Autocarindia.com.

According to the report, the company is targeting monthly sales of around 1,000 - 1,500 units. The decision to launch the Ertiga CNG is a well-planned move in the wake of increasing petrol & diesel prices. The Ertiga CNG will inevitably prove to be an attractive alternative to taxi operators.



The biggest market for the Ertiga CNG will be Delhi which has the highest number of CNG vehicles and stations. Out of the 500 odd CNG stations in India, close to 200 are in Delhi itself! The public sector Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) which sells automotive & domestic gas has stated that it plans to increase the usage of CNG across India.

Factory-fitted CNG kits have inherent appeal as reliability, safety and quality are guaranteed. On the flip side, CNG-powered cars suffer from poorer acceleration and reduced boot space. The appeal of CNG is limited as the fuel is supplied in a relatively smaller number of cities & towns.

The Ertiga has seen its sales slide from 7,116 in September 2012 to 5,842 units last month. Maruti hopes that the launch of the CNG version will see sales climb back up to the 7,000 mark.

Related Thread

[CARDEEP]

This makes sense to taxi buyers IMO in specific regions of the country only. As they are the ones, who will look to save money on per km travelled (as running on CNG per KM is cheaper than Diesel, as per my personal experience, & you need not baby the car to extract best figures). The private buyers who will buy petrol variant (w/o CNG, like few in our forum) would know what they have paid for & should be happy with the car in any case.

And, the buyer won't lose the warranty on the conversion as well. This is a good move Maruti Suzuki IMO.

[parassoni]

Hey, This is Great news! Am sure Autoindian will be Extremely happy to see this(AGP will vouch)! I know people who've been waiting on this for almost half a year now!

Now lets just Hope that Maruti Sort out their high Waiting periods. To My mind the only Reason why Sales have dipped for the Ertiga since Launch Is the high waiting periods, The Duster & Quanto aren't a factor considering their Price and appeal respecively!

MSIL had an inital prod. capacity of 7000 units for the Ertiga, I doubt once they launch this (and in probably a few months the 2013 Ertiga) they will be able to manage wait periods again! Add to that, Indonesian Ertiga is Manufactured in India and Exported as CKD, along with the Launch of Ertiga in Thailand(Both RHD Markets) last week!

[Vid6639]

Just wondering how the CNG tank will be fitted. The 3rd row is anyways a tight squeeze and with the 3rd row of seats up, space is limited.

I don't think it will make sense to try and fit the CNG tank as well as all 3 rows of seats. Maybe they should just target it as a spacious 5 seater with the CNG tank. It will still have boot space even with the CNG tank.

[latentpotential]

Maybe - they will remove the spare wheel and rework the rear bottom to make space for the CNG kit. As it is, there is a LOT of wasted space below the 3rd seat, which can be repurposed.

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Just wondering how the CNG tank will be fitted. The 3rd row is anyways a tight squeeze and with the 3rd row of seats up, space is limited.

I don't think it will make sense to try and fit the CNG tank as well as all 3 rows of seats. Maybe they should just target it as a spacious 5 seater with the CNG tank. It will still have boot space even with the CNG tank.

Spot on. The space availabe behind the 3rd row is quite less, how are they going to manage placing a decent size CNG tank.

By the way, whats the price difference between the CNG and Petrol on comparable units of measure?

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Maruti is going to introduce a CNG version of the Ertiga MPV shortly, says Autocarindia.com.

Thanks for sharing the scoop. Maruti will have to do a lot of jugglery to fit a CNG tank & still sell the Ertiga as a 7 seater.

Originally Posted by parassoni

Hey, This is Great news! Am sure Autoindian will be Extremely happy to see this(AGP will vouch)! I know people who've been waiting on this for almost half a year now!

Bang on Parassoni. I am very happy & surely going to be hooked to this thread. I am confident AGP will come out with his CNGed Ertiga, well before Maruti comes with their factory fitted version. I would be keenly watching both the versions.

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

Spot on. The space availabe behind the 3rd row is quite less, how are they going to manage placing a decent size CNG tank.

Maruti Suzuki are the masters in space management. Look how the smaller looking Ertiga is so spacious from the inside. I am guessing they will come up with a uniquely designed tank, which won't eat up into the third row seat space, but whatever boot the current Ertiga has is surely going to be sacrificed.

By the way, whats the price difference between the CNG and Petrol on comparable units of measure?

If you are asking for the price difference between the petrol & CNG versions of a car, then it comes to around 55K (Wagon-R price in Pune). For the Ecco it is around 74K. My guess for the Ertiga it would be in the range of 60K to 70K

[silverado]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Just wondering how the CNG tank will be fitted. The 3rd row is anyways a tight squeeze and with the 3rd row of seats up, space is limited.

I don't think it will make sense to try and fit the CNG tank as well as all 3 rows of seats. Maybe they should just target it as a spacious 5 seater with the CNG tank. It will still have boot space even with the CNG tank.

Agreed, it would surely be a very spacious 5 seater, but will they reduce the prices in this case? or maybe keep it the same ?

It would be delightfull to have a 5 seater CNG ertiga at the same cost of a 7 seater petrol one.

But i feel Maruti might never sell it as a 5 seater, since 7 seats in such a compact vehicle is its USP

Originally Posted by latentpotential

Maybe - they will remove the spare wheel and rework the rear bottom to make space for the CNG kit. As it is, there is a LOT of wasted space below the 3rd seat, which can be repurposed.

Where will spare wheel go in that case?

I feel they will move the rear and centre bench a little ahead and create room for CNG tank.

[swiftnfurious]

Can Maruti utilize the space under the middle row seats to accommodate the CNG tank? I believe the space under the last row is utilized for the spare tyre and they may NOT be able to do anything there.

[swiftdiesel]

As of now they have housed the fuel tank under the middle row. Forgive me for this stupid question, but does a CNG vehicle have a petrol tank as well? If yes, then they may split the last row seats and use the 7th seat's space for the CNG. The Ertiga may essentially be a 6 seater then. If there's no fuel tank below the middle row they might use that space.

[theincredible1]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Just wondering how the CNG tank will be fitted. The 3rd row is anyways a tight squeeze and with the 3rd row of seats up, space is limited.

I don't think it will make sense to try and fit the CNG tank as well as all 3 rows of seats. Maybe they should just target it as a spacious 5 seater with the CNG tank. It will still have boot space even with the CNG tank.

I too was about to buy the ZXi Ertiga and the night after i booked it i googled for user feedback by fitting a CNG kit in the cars. To my surprise I found out that the factory fitted CNG version was due in a month or two.

However the dealership had an option of an extra fitment of the cng kit and showed it to me fitted on another car hoping the sale would be immediate.

What I found out is that the fitment althought perfect made me still want to wait for the factory fitted one. Although it is expected that the CNG version will not be available on the ZXi variant, I think it will surely be available on the VXi.

My best guess about the CNG fitted from the factory (and also shown to me by the dealership) will be the removal of the long plastic luggage tray behind the last row of seats and placing the CNG tank similar to the one in the Eeco (the longer one compared to the regular fatter and shorter).

Surprisingly that space in the ertiga's last row for that cng tank was so perfect, I felt the car was designed like this for a definate CNG option in the future.

Nothing of the functionality (rear seats, spare wheel etc.) was compromised at all.

Fingers crossed hoping for a ZXi CNG variant.

BOTH HANDS Fingers crossed for a ZXi CNG AUTOMATIC Variant

[JayPrashanth]

Link to News Section

FinancialExpress reports that Maruti Suzuki could launch the Ertiga CNG as early as next week. The CNG powered version of the Ertiga is expected to use the 1.4 Liter K-Series petrol engine, converted to run on CNG. The 1.4 Liter K-Series petrol engine outputs 94 Bhp-130 Nm and a similar power and torque output could be delivered on CNG too. The Ertiga CNG will come with a supplementary petrol tank, a handy addition that will give the MPV its dual fuel moniker. Variants of the Ertiga MPV in CNG-Petrol guise are said to be priced about 30,000 rupees higher than the equivalent petrol variants. However, only LXi and VXi version of the Ertiga CNG might go on sale.



At the price levels at which the Ertiga CNG is anticipated to sell at, the MPV will undercut its diesel version by quite a margin. The lower price tag of the Ertiga CNG will make it an cost effective city MPV for folks looking at a compact people mover. The Maruti Ertiga CNG will be the second Maruti car to be available in three fuel options, petrol, diesel and CNG, after the SX4 sedan. It must be noted that availability of CNG remains confined to the bigger cities of India such as Delhi and Mumbai. This factor makes the Ertiga CNG more of an urban MPV suited for cities which have plenty of CNG dispensing outlets.

Now, to the downsides of CNG, as expressed by many CNG owners. One: CNG car owners need to line up behind long queues of autorickshaws and other commercial vehicles to tank up on leading to a long time for refueling. CNG. Two: The 10 kilogram capacity of CNG tanks on most cars delivers a range of 200-300 Kms, making a higher number of refueling trips necessary when compared that on petrol or diesel cars, which deliver a higher range per tankful due to higher tank capacities. Three: A CNG tank in the boot reduces luggage space significantly. However, CNG does bring aboard a host of advantages. CNG, a cleaner burning fuel than petrol and diesel, is also cheaper than both petrol and diesel.

Back of the hand calculations drive home the advantage of CNG over Diesel. One kilogram of CNG is priced at 39.90 rupees at Delhi, while 1 liter of diesel is priced at 50.25 rupees. The near 10 rupees difference, makes diesel 25% more expensive than CNG. Also, diesel cars, assuming a 70,000 rupees price differential between CNG and diesel powered cars, are significantly more expensive to buy initially. Assuming that a person drives about 1,000 kilometers a month predominantly on Delhi streets, CNG refueling costs for a car such as the SX4 CNG will be about 2,000 rupees(Assuming a mileage of 20 Kms per Kg of CNG). The same distance covered in Delhi on a diesel powered Maruti SX4 will cost about 3,000 rupees(Assuming a city mileage of 15 Kmpl).

So, it's evident that a CNG powered car isn't just less expensive to buy, but is also less expensive to run if the usage is mainly in the city. And we haven't even begun factoring in the lower maintenance costs of petrol-CNG cars when compared to diesel models. All in all, the launch of the Ertiga in CNG-Petrol dual fuel guise is expected to boost volumes for Maruti Suzuki in the bigger cities of India, where CNG is readily available. Maruti has also been forced to go slow on petrol car production due to the buyer sentiment tilted towards diesel. The launch of the Ertiga CNG will also allow Maruti to optimally utilize its petrol car production capacity.

[2000rpm]

Where the hell will they fix the CNG Tank. The Ertiga boot space is already very very limited!! But yes a very value for money offering...

[srishiva]

When will CNG be available to vehicles in Bengaluru? I am guessing that Toyota is already using CNG in its plant. They can setup terminals all along the road that the pipeline is laid.

[theincredible1]

I just called the dealership asking whether the car was launching in a week or no.
They said they have no clue from the company yet.
Anybody else have anymore info on the same ?