Maruti Suzuki is gearing up to launch the CNG-powered variant of the Dzire Tour S in India. And, as per a leaked document, it is likely to be priced at Rs 5.97 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). Production of the Dzire Tour S CNG is said to have already started and deliveries are expected to begin in the second half of April 2018, once the current stock of petrol-powered Tour S is cleared.
The Dzire Tour S CNG is basically a bi-fuel (petrol and CNG) variant of the Dzire Tour S, which was launched back in 2017. For those who don’t know, the Dzire Tour S is a taxi variant of the now-discontinued second-gen Dzire sedan that was launched to cater to taxi/fleet operators in the country.
The Dzire Tour S CNG will be powered by the same 1.2-litre petrol engine like earlier but now it has been tuned to run on CNG as well. On petrol, the engine makes 83PS of power while on CNG, the output declines by 13PS to 70PS. The engine is mated to a 5-speed manual transmission. A speed limiter has also been fitted to restrict top speed to 80kmph, which is in compliance with the Indian government’s revised rules which require all taxis to be fitted with this device for road safety.
The Dzire Tour S rivals the Xcent Prime, which is a taxi focused variant of the Hyundai Xcent and was launched in September 2017. Recently, Mahindra also entered the taxi segment with the launch of the KUV100 Trip, which is based on the pre-facelift KUV100. It is available in two variants - bi-fuel (petrol/CNG) and diesel, which are priced at Rs 5.16 lakh and 5.42 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), respectively.
Apart from Dzire Tour S, Maruti Suzuki also offers the Celerio Tour H2 for fleet operators at a price of Rs 4.20 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).
