Maruti rolls out Swift Diesel in Tamil Nadu

Chennai, January 26: Car market leader Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) rolled out the diesel version of Swift, its premium hatchback model, in Tamil Nadu here last night.

The much-awaited Swift Diesel is powered by a state-of-the-art, 1.3 litre, DDiS engine. Unlike conventional diesel engines, this engine is silent, clean, compact and powerful, while clearly offering superior fuel efficiency, according to MUL Chief General Manager (Marketing) Mayank Pareek.

After the launch, Mr Pareek told newspersons, "the new generation diesel engine with five-injection technology minimises vibration and reduces emission substantially compared to the conventional three-injection diesel technology".

The high-end Swift VDi was priced at Rs 4,96,134 and the other model at Rs 4,67,607.

The technology for the diesel engine was obtained from Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) through a technological licence agreement with Fiat and Adam Opel.

The SMC and MUL would invest Rs 2,500 crore upto 2010 in the diesel plant at Manesar in Haryana to increase the manufacturing capacity to 300,000 from 100,000 diesel engines, he said.

Mr Pareek claimed that Estillo Zen, launched in December last, was the fastest selling car in the country with a sale of 10,000 cars in just five weeks.

"This is the new generation diesel engine, with 5-injection technology. An electronic control system in the engine sub-divides the principal injection into smaller multiple injections, leading to homogenous combustion. This makes the engine silent, minimizes vibration and reduces emission substantially, compared to the conventional 3-injection diesel technology," he said.

Asked he said with the growing demand for diesel cars in India, Suzuki Motor Corporation and Maruti Udyog had made major investments in diesel facilities to serve the customer need.

The Swift Diesel, a world car with a new generation diesel heart, would be the best combination of performance and fuel efficiency in the Indian diesel car market. While offering the benefits of low fuel cost, it would be desired for its refined technology and superior engine performance, he added.

UNI