Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) on Monday said its smart hybrid vehicles – Ciaz SHVS and Ertiga SHVS – have crossed cumulative sales of one lakh units this month.
This marks the success of Maruti Suzuki’s efforts in hybrid and electric mobility in India, the company said.
Introduction of technologies like Smart Hybrid can only create a significant positive impact if they are made available to a larger section of customers. With this as a premise, Maruti Suzuki had introduced India’s first Smart Hybrid vehicle, Ciaz SHVS on September 1, 2015. It had subsequently introduced the technology in Ertiga diesel in October 2015, the company said.
Smart Hybrid Vehicle by Suzuki (SHVS) is a technology which uses an Integrated Starter Generator (ISG) and an advanced high capacity battery to supplement the engine’s power.
Ciaz and Ertiga Smart Hybrid participate in Government of India’s FAME India scheme also, which aims to promote Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric (FAME) vehicles in India.
“As we move towards hybrid and electric cars, we see this as a first important step in this space. Both Ciaz SHVS and Ertiga SHVS are high on fuel efficiency, come with reduced running costs and lower levels of CO2 emission, thus making these popular among customers," R S Kalsi, Executive Director, Marketing & Sales, Maruti Suzuki, said.
Over the last few years, Maruti was able to reduce overall weighted average CO2 by over 15 per cent through various initiatives like fuel efficiency improvement, introduction of new technologies and development of alternate fuel products.
At present, the company offers alternate fuel option in six models, namely Alto 800, Alto K10, Celerio, WagonR, Eeco and Ertiga with i-GPI CNG engine technology.
The company has sold over 6 lakh alternate fuel vehicles and one lakh smart hybrid vehicles cumulatively, which has helped in offsetting about four lakh tonnes of CO2 emissions cumulatively, the company added.