Maruti Ignis Diesel Production Halted

Where the third-gen Maruti Suzuki Swift has become the fastest car to reach the 100,000 unit sales mark, its sibling, the Ignis, does not seem to be doing that well, especially in its diesel version. So much so that the Indian carmaker has decided to pull the plug on production of the diesel Ignis, inform authorised dealers in Delhi and Pune. There is no official confirmation from Maruti about the same, though.

Currently, Maruti dealers in Delhi are offering benefits of up to Rs 70,000 on the Ignis. Starting with the diesel, the manual version attracts a cash discount of Rs 35,000 while the AMT can be had with a cash discount of Rs 40,000. In addition to cash discounts, dealers are also offering an exchange bonus of Rs 25,000 and corporate bonus of Rs 3,100 on all Ignis models. Cash discount on offer on the petrol Ignis is somewhat lower, with the manual attracting a discount of Rs 25,000 while the AMT is available with a cash discount of Rs 35,000.

The real reason behind the sales suspension of the diesel Ignis is currently unknown but we expect slow sales to be the culprit. The reason behind the Ignis diesel’s low sales could be the high sticker price and lowered gap between the price of diesel and petrol. Prices for the Ignis diesel with manual transmission start from Rs 6.32 lakh and go up to Rs 7.58 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), the base variant (which is Delta for diesel) being more expensive than the Swift’s base diesel (LDi) with a manual transmission that costs Rs 5.99 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

The Ignis Delta does offer some additional features over the Swift LDi in the form of electronically adjustable body coloured ORVMs with turn indicators, wheel covers, all four power windows, day/night IRVM, keyless entry and a basic music system, but a price hike of Rs 33,000 for them is not justified.

The Ignis, at least in its base variant, is pricier than its other rivals as well. The Hyundai Grand i10 (diesel) is priced between Rs 5.89 lakh to Rs 7.89 lakh and the Mahindra KUV100 NXT (diesel) starts from Rs 5.60 lakh and go up to Rs 7.63 lakh (all prices ex-showroom Delhi).

The Maruti Ignis was launched back in 2017 and since then it has been clocking average monthly sales of about 4,500 units. The Swift and the Grand i10, on the other hand, have average monthly sales of above 19,000 units and 11,000 units, respectively.

It is currently available with both a 1.2-litre (83PS/113Nm) petrol engine and a 1.3-litre (75PS/190Nm) diesel engine. The Ignis is priced between Rs 4.66 lakh to Rs 8.12 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Source: cardekho.com