Thanks to hiked petrol prices and loan rates, share of diesel cars is set to rise further this festive season in Gujarat. As against an expected diesel-petrol ratio of 60:40, the state is already witnessing a ratio of 80:20.
“Ever since we began selling the new variant of Swift in Gujarat, we were expecting a ratio of 60:40 in our bookings. But we were really surprised to see a ratio of 80:20 in our Swift bookings from Gujarat.
This shows how more customers are shifting towards diesel variants in cars,” said SN Burman, general manager (west zone), Maruti Suzuki.
As other states, petrol prices have been hiked almost every month in the last six months, resulting in around a 16-17 per cent rise in its prices. A litre of petrol in Ahmedabad now costs around Rs 68, while diesel is relatively much lower at Rs 42 for a litre.
While the trend could be short lived, auto makers and dealers alike say that the shift in ratio is a result of consumers reacting to inflationary pressures. However, while car bookings and sales may have tilted in favour of diesel variants, it is only in the case of models or companies that offer both the petrol and diesel variants.
“Companies that sell only petrol variants are losing out on this. However, gradually some companies are learning to offer diesel variants as well in near future. In case of General Motors, we have made sure we offer more number of fuel variants,” said P Balendran, vice president, General Motors.
In the overall car market, petrol still rules the roost but it is not so with models where both the variants are available. “For instance, in case of Chevrolet Beat which offers both the variants, diesel’s share in bookings has gone beyond 75-80 per cent while that of petrol has come down to 20 per cent,” said Balendran.
According to car companies, a diesel engine gives higher mileage (almost 1.5 times) compared to petrol engine, and is currently around 38 per cent cheaper than petrol. In effect, the running cost of a diesel car is almost half of that of a petrol car.
Also, as per Balendran, diesel engines are now equally competent in terms of technology. “Earlier, diesel variants required more maintenance and were not technology advanced. But now, even in terms of technology, diesel variants are at par with petrol ones,” added Balendran.
