Maruti Suzuki’s A-Star to get new 800CC diesel engine

Maruti Suzuki is working hard in developing a two cylinder 800cc diesel engine to power its forthcoming diesel cars. This is being developed with the help of Suzuki engineers in Japan and is codenamed E2.

This new engine is likely to deliver 40 hp and is expected to give a mileage of 25-30Kmpl. It will come to India for indigenisation in a year after thorough tests at Suzuki Motor Corp, Japan. This diesel engine will power the next gen A-star (Known globally as Alto), ready to be roll out in India by 2015.


There will be tight competition in this segment as Tata Motors and Hyundai are coming up with small diesel engine cars. Tata Motors will be launching 800 CC Tata Nano diesel and Hyundai is working on 1.1 litre i10 diesel to be launched within a year.

In India, entry level segment makes up for 40-45 % of the total car market and every car maker is working on small diesel cars to boost their sales in the coming years.  At present, we have only 1 Litre Chevrolet Beat in this segment and it delivers a decent  fuel efficiency of 25 kmpl. So we need small diesel cars that gives all these factors – power, performance, mileage and affordable. As entry level customers are price sensitive, car makers will have to consider all these factors to have a winning offer.

Awaiting more entry level diesel car launches in the coming years.

Click here to read our latest 2014 review - Best diesel hatchback in India - 2014.