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Informist, Friday, May 22, 2026

 

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--Maruti Suzuki official: Will launch flex-fuel-based WagonR next month 
--Maruti Suzuki official: Flex-fuel WagonR based on petrol WagonR platform 
--Maruti Suzuki aide: Flex-fuel WagonR mileage to be below petrol variants 
--Maruti Suzuki aide: Flex-fuel WagonR to be priced higher than CNG variant 
--Maruti Suzuki aide: See flex fuel car prices falling when scale picks up 
--Maruti Suzuki official: Price of flex fuel should be lower than petrol

 

By Anand JC

 

NEW DELHI – Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. is set to roll out India's first flex-fuel-compliant car next month, a senior company official told Informist. The automotive major will launch flex-fuel-compliant WagonR in June, built on the same platform as the petrol-run variant.

 

A representative for Maruti Suzuki, however, did not confirm the date of launch.

 

Flex-fuel cars are equipped with engines that can run on standard petrol, pure bioethanol, or any blend of the two in a single, common fuel tank. Flex-fuel vehicles are most commonly associated with E85, a fuel blend that contains up to 85% ethanol and 15% petrol.

 

Some flex-fuel cars in countries such as Brazil are built to handle up to 100% pure ethanol, or E100 fuel. Maruti Suzuki's flex fuel Wagon R can run on E85 fuel but it is unclear whether it will be able to handle E100. Pure ethanol fuel tends to be more expensive than lower blends of ethanol and petrol. 

 

The flex-fuel-compliant WagonR will be fitted with a 1.2 litre engine. It is expected that flex-fuel WagonR will be priced up to 20% higher than existing variants. The prices of the petrol-run WagonR currently range between INR 557,770 and INR 793,000 on-road in New Delhi while the compressed natural gas-variant is priced between INR 661,000 and INR 737,000 on-road. Maruti Suzuki on Thursday said it would hike prices of all its cars by up to INR 30,000 to offset pressure stemming from surging input costs.

 

"The prices of flex-fuel WagonR will be higher than existing petrol and CNG variants because of the additional components," the company official said. "Pricing is related to the volumes sold. As things stand, no OEM (original equipment manufacturer) will produce the car in high volumes," the official said.

 

Flex-fuel cars are expected to be priced higher than petrol and CNG variants, given the lack of scale. "Once scale picks up, we expect prices of FFVs (flex-fuel cars) to be at par with that of CNG," the Maruti Suzuki official said.

 

Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd.'s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Shailesh Chandra had last week told reporters that the company was gearing up to launch its flex-fuel car later this year or early next year. This will make Tata Motors PV the second carmaker in India to do so after Maruti Suzuki.

 

Carmakers' lobby body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers has already made representations seeking a 30% price cut for higher ethanol fuel blends. "It (flex-fuel cars) is a new alternative, the Centre must take cues from what has been done for CNG when pricing flex-fuels," the official said. The mileage of the flex-fuel Wagon R is expected to be lower than that of petrol variants because they run on ethanol-heavy fuel blends, which contain less energy per litre compared with standard petrol.

 

Maruti Suzuki currently has the technology in place to make flex-fuel variants for other car models as well. The company had showcased a flex-fuel-compliant model of its crossover Fronx, albeit as a concept. 

 

GOVT'S PUSH

Earlier this week, the government notified the standards for petrol blends beyond E20. Issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards, the new notification listed technical and quality parameters for E22, E25, E27, and E30 fuels.

 

Last month, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways floated draft amendments for flex-fuel standards. "Current certification standards already allow for E85 fuel engines, the government has gone one step ahead with notifying standards for E100 fuel in order to boost the technology," the official said.

 

Flex-fuels have found favour in the Centre's fuel efficiency norms regulations as well. The third cycle of the Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency norms, oft termed as CAFE-3 norms, is set to kick in from Apr. 1 and will be in force till Mar. 31, 2032. Draft norms suggest additional benefits for carmakers selling strong hybrid and flex-fuel vehicles.

 

At 1401 IST, shares of Maruti Suzuki traded 0.2% higher at INR 13,031 on the National Stock Exchange.  End

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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