Shortage of Filling Stations in NCR Dampens CNG Car Sales

Go Slow Nominal rise in sales despite odd-even scheme, anti-diesel buzz

Inadequate number of CNG filling stations in the National Capital Territory is deterring car buyers from

opting for CNG-fuelled cars, say companies that have registered nominal increase in sales of green

vehicles.

Sales of CNG vehicles have not seen an increase despite the noise against diesel vehicles growing daily

and the AAP government implementing odd-even scheme that provides exemption to CNG vehicles.

Maruti Suzuki, which has the largest portfolio of factory-fitted CNG vehicles, registered a modest

increase of 3% in sales of CNG vehicles in the last financial year at 59,800 units, compared to 58,000 sold

in the previous fiscal.The country’s largest car maker currently offers CNG options in six models -Alto,

Alto K10, Celerio, WagonR, Eeco and Ertiga.

WagonR accounted for nearly half of these volumes with sales of around 29,000 units of CNG-powered

versions. Eeco CNG was a distant second with sales of over 11,000 units. CNG vehicles contribute around

5% to Maruti Suzuki’s overall volumes at present.

RS Kalsi, executive director (sales & marketing) at Maruti Suzuki said, “Limited network has been a major

deterrent to penetration of CNG vehicles, especially for customers who own one vehicle and travel long

distances. Also, customers are increasingly looking at new technologies such as smart hybrids offering

superior fuel efficiency and low emission.“

In case of Ertiga, for instance, which has both CNG and SHVS (smart hybrid system) trims.CNG accounts

for 9-10% of sales while SHVS trim contributes over 57-58%. Ertiga SHVS delivers a fuel economy of

24.52 km per litre -an improvement of over 18% over the outgoing diesel variant.

Rakesh Srivastava, senior vicepresident (sales & marketing), Hyundai Motor India (HMIL), said demand

uptick is more for petrol cars though enquiries as well as sales of CNG vehicles have increased in NCR.

“Currently , the market is seeing a pronounced shift from diesel to petrol. There are customers who are

seeking low cost of ownership and are gravitating towards CNG options. But the challenge in growth of

CNG vehicles is infrastructure. CNG is not a universal fuel available across the country. Besides, there are

constraints in supplies of approved CNG kits.“

So while sales of petrol cars zoomed -to account for 56% of all new passenger vehicles sold in the last

financial year due to the backlash on diesel -sales of CNG versions were subdued.

Hyundai has Eon, i10, Grand and XCent available with advanced sequential CNG kits.

There is no official estimate but industry sources indicate that 8-9% of vehicles in the domestic market

run on CNG. While a quarter of these sales come from factory-fitted CNG cars, the rest comprise retro-

fitted models.

NGS INDIA