Running costs of CNG vehicles at Rs 2.1-2.2 per km are less than half of Rs 5.30-5.45 per km for petrol and diesel driven vehicles.
“Even though CNG prices have increased the past few months, the differential (with petrol and diesel) is still substantial. Fuel efficiency of CNG vehicles additionally is higher resulting in lower running costs for buyers,” Shashank Srivastava, senior executive director (marketing and sales),
, told ET.
At Suzuki, CNG vehicles account for nearly a fifth of overall sales. In fact, this fiscal, sales of CNG vehicles would have overtaken diesel vehicles’ peak sales of 4,74,953 units registered by the company, but for output disruptions. Maruti currently has pending orders for 1,30,000 CNG vehicles, the longest waiting period being on the Ertiga, at about 8-9 months.
Korean auto major Hyundai has seen average monthly sales of CNG powered vehicles grow 58% this year and expects the momentum to increase in the coming months. Hyundai has already sold 24,730 CNG vehicles in the first five months of the year, compared with 37,584 units sold in the whole of 2021.
