Outsourcing expected to meet demand
Maruti’s diesel variants of the swift, ritz, dZire and sX4 will have engines manufactured by fiat.
the engines will be made at the latter’s ranjangaon plant, near Pune. With 85 per cent of the swift, ritz, dZire and sX4 cars that are sold being run on diesel, Maruti are doing so because they have failed to meet the rising domestic demand.
Maruti already have a licensing pact to produce fiat’s 1.3 multi-jet diesel engines at their Manesar facility since 2007, which initially fired the Swift and was later strapped on to the dZire, ritz and sX4. this engine was sourced directly by Maruti’s parent, suzuki Motor Corp, from fiat, italy. Both companies are close to signing a supply agreement after Maruti carried out a technical feasibility study on fiat’s diesel engines a few months ago.
of the 2,80,000 diesel engines produced at Maruti’s Manesar plant, about 45,000 are exported to Hungary, giving rise to a domestic demand-supply gap. the car-makers are considering cutting exports to take care of the shortfall of about 1,20,000 engines.
