[volkman10]

Fiat’s 1.3-litre Multijet diesel to bow out by end of decade.

Often called as the National Engine of India this frugal diesel engine once powered 24 different cars from 5 different car makers and at its peak concurrently powered 16 models.

With Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors switching to in-house diesels to meet BS-VI norms, Fiat’s long-standing diesel won’t have any takers beyond 2020.

While the next-gen Swift, due for an India launch in March 2018, will come with the 1.3-litre Multijet from the new Dzire, from 2020, beginning with the next-gen Ciaz, all Maruti diesel cars are likely to switch to an all-new, 1.5-litre, four-cylinder Suzuki engine. The unit is said to be in an advanced stage of development. Suzuki’s 1.5 diesel is essentially two 793cc twin-cylinder units from the Celerio combined, and then downsized to duck under the crucial 1,500cc mark.

With Maruti, Fiat’s largest customer for this engine, and Tata Motors switching to their own, in-house-developed BS-VI diesel engines, there won’t be any takers for the Fiat engine. Also, the future of Fiat itself is uncertain in India and it’s likely that parent company, Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) will axe the Fiat brand and concentrate its resources on making Jeep a success. Even if FCA continues to sell Fiats in India, the sales volume of under 6,000 units a year is too small to justify the huge development costs required to upgrade the Multijet from BS-IV

The discontinuation of Fiat’s 1.3-litre Multijet will mark the end of an era, during which the compact 1,248cc common-rail turbo-diesel racked nearly 3 million unit sales.

With the rumor of Maruti Suzuki axing the DDiS320, will put an end to the engine dependency on external sources till the time EV gains momentum and that would then draw synergies with Toyota.


Link

[abhishek46]

Originally Posted by volkman10

With Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors switching to in-house diesels to meet BS-VI norms, Fiat’s long-standing diesel won’t have any takers beyond 2020.

The problem is not so complicated. The same 1.3 Engine in it's new Multijet II avatar should be able to meet the BS-6 norms.

It is not a completely new engine, rather a few components like Injectors etc are changed.

In summary, the spirit of the MJD should still survive, in some form or the other.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

TATA has certainly proved their capabilities with the new 1.5L motor in the Nexon.

Hopefully, Maruti will be able to produce similar results as well. The article assumes that Maruti will be able to do so, and produce all the engines that they need (Should be more than 50k per month) in-house - by 2020.

Anyways, the 1.3 Multijet had a very long run in the market. An "era" was quite an apt usage to describe it because the launch of this engine in the Swift diesel really marked the huge leap diesel engines made in the country when it came to mass market acceptance.

We all know about Maruti Suzuki, TATA, Chevrolet and FIAT using the engine - but one more lesser known case is Premier Rio.

[SmartCat]

We have around 15 to 20 companies that specialize in design and development of petrol/diesel/hybrid engines. Eg: www.avl.com. Both Mahindra & Tata are customers of AVL.

Many global car makers too outsource several aspects of design & development to companies like AVL, to reduce costs and speed up development. Even though they are supposed to be engines developed "in-house".

When such external help is available, I guess it doesn't make sense for Suzuki to depend on a rival car company for engines.

[TusharK]

Fiat India might drop its 1.3-litre Multijet (BS-IV) diesel engine by 2020. A media report suggests that Fiat has no plans to upgrade the engine to comply with Bharat Stage VI emission norms to be introduced in 2020.



Maruti Suzuki has been Fiat's biggest customer and has been building the 1.3-litre Multijet engine locally under license. The engine has proved to be highly reliable, economical and has been cost effective for India's largest car maker. It has been used in the Swift, Dzire, Vitara Brezza, Ertiga, Ignis, Baleno and Ciaz. However, reports say that Maruti is developing its own 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder diesel engine to replace the 1.3-litre Multijet. This new motor will be BS-VI compliant and is expected to be introduced on the next-gen Ciaz.

Similarly, Tata Motors has developed a 1.5-litre diesel for the upcoming Nexon. The smaller 1.05-litre diesel offered on the Tiago was also developed in-house. Eventually, Tata will phase out the Fiat-sourced 1.3-litre Multijet and replace it with the company's own engines.

Thus, with two of its main customers moving to new engines, there would be fewer takers for Fiat's 1.3-litre Multijet. Secondly, Fiat's own sales volumes are too small to justify the development costs to upgrade the engine to be BS-VI compliant. Hence, it looks highly unlikely that Fiat would continue to offer the 1.3-litre Multijet beyond 2020.

Source: Autocar

[i74js]

I am not sure if developmental cost is required. The Euro VI MJD is already in use across EU and the US offerings.

The only investment required would be assembly line upgrade, but nonetheless if key buyers are moving away from MJD procurement, it will be difficult for FCA to sustain the production.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by TusharK

It has been used in the Swift, Dzire, Vitara Brezza, Ertiga, Ignis, Baleno and Ciaz

Ritz & SCross as well

[Storm2.0]

Whenever the engine is phased out of Indian automotive industry I think it should be done with great honour with two minutes of silence followed by national anthem after all this the national engine of India.
It will be interesting to see which engine takes up the vacant position in future, if it will be another Fiat in new avatar or will it be Suzuki's newly developed diesel engines.

[itsmb]

Originally Posted by TusharK

Fiat India might drop its 1.3-litre Multijet (BS-IV) diesel engine by 2020. A media report suggests that Fiat has no plans to upgrade the engine to comply with Bharat Stage VI emission norms to be introduced in 2020.

We should not rule out the possibility that Fiat(not Jeep) might consider shutting shops in India once their bread and butter engine is out of demand. Tata has already developed a gem(fingers crossed) and Maruti is underway, the two big customers will no longer require the engines. Its Do or Die situation for Fiat, a call needs to be taken whether you want to continue here or pack up. If you chose the former a lot needs to be done else you are already non existent.

[PearlJam]

The 1.3 MJD was a perfect fit in the Swift/Dzire stable, and way ahead of it's competitors once upon a time. Maruti did a fantastic job in tuning this engine just right, and matching it up with perfect gear ratios. With top notch reliability and great mileage, it's not a surprise that this was the "national engine of India".

But with the passage of time, other manufacturers caught up and started providing better engines in terms of power, refinement, and capacity. It no longer makes sense to use the same 1.3 right from Swift to the premium Ciaz.

I hope the 1.5 from the Maruti stable will live up to the legendary status of the 1.3.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by itsmb

We should not rule out the possibility that Fiat(not Jeep) might consider shutting shops in India once their bread and butter engine is out of demand.

They've already started concentrating on the sales of the 2.0 Multijet II.

But I do agree with you. With Jeep bringing much needed numbers to the group sales and showrooms - FIAT should start bringing in more products and quit being just an engine manufacturer.

[GTO]

National engine indeed. It's the most common diesel engine on Indian roads. If the news is true, this will be the end of an icon.

I remember driving the early Swift diesels and thinking what a jewel of a motor it is. Was a master-stroke from Maruti to tie up with Fiat for diesel engines when it still didn't have its own 4-cylinder (still doesn't, by the way). In fact, Maruti's sheer volumes might have kept Fiat India alive as it was the biggest customer by far, and this 1.3L engine accounted for over 80% of Fiat India's revenues at one point.

But it was only a matter of time. For one, the 1.3L MJD is feeling very old and is simply outclassed by some of the competition's diesels. Second, Maruti wasn't going to pay a royalty for life. They could develop their own, or perhaps use one from their new partner, Toyota. Tata also has a better engine with its new 1.5L seen in the Nexon.

It's a good thing that FCA India has finally tasted success with a high-margin product - the Compass. With engine revenues poised to die, brand Jeep might have just saved the company in India.

Originally Posted by abhishek46

The problem is not so complicated. The same 1.3 Engine in it's new Multijet II avatar should be able to meet the BS-6 norms.

But who'll buy it? Maruti doesn't want to keep paying royalties & Tata has its own diesels now. Fiat isn't selling any cars to use the BSVI 1.3L MJD in.

Originally Posted by itsmb

We should not rule out the possibility that Fiat(not Jeep) might consider shutting shops in India once their bread and butter engine is out of demand.

No chance now with the Compass. It's gotten FCA's car business off ventilator support and onto the treadmill .

Originally Posted by PearlJam

Maruti did a fantastic job in tuning this engine just right, and matching it up with perfect gear ratios.

So true. I prefer Maruti's tuning of the engine & gearbox to Fiat's!

[Suyog.Salke]

Originally Posted by abhishek46

The problem is not so complicated. The same 1.3 Engine in it's new Multijet II avatar should be able to meet the BS-6 norms.

It is not a completely new engine, rather a few components like Injectors etc are changed.

In summary, the spirit of the MJD should still survive, in some form or the other.

As per Wikipedia, the multijet 1.3 is able to meet Euro IV (BS IV) pollution standards without the use of a diesel particulate filter. So upgrading it to meet BS VI should not be a big problem for FCA. Multijet 1.3 is highly reliable, refined, fun to drive yet fuel efficient. It should continue to power small car, after all it is National Engine.

[volkman10]

Maruti to go alone with diesel tech despite challenges.

Foresees a demand for diesel-engine vehicles in the SUV segment and export markets.

The country's largest carmaker Maruti has confirmed that it will be developing its own diesel technology by 2020 and will move away from its dependence on Fiat for diesel engines.

Maruti is working on a 1.5-litre diesel engine in-house that will power future models like the next-generation Vitara Brezza and the S-cross replacement. The 1.5-litre engine is a part of Suzuki’s new family of in-house-developed diesel engines,

Link

[R.Daroga]

If Maruti does drop the 1.3 DDIS, how will it affect the resale value and parts availability let's say 7 years down the line for existing buyers?