LPG set to power ahead of diesel, CNG in Hyundai’s next offerings

Country’s second largest car manufacturer takes u-turn on diesel variant of Santro, decides to launch LPG model instead.

With sales of diesel cars stealing a march over their petrol cousins, almost all major manufacturers are looking to bring in a diesel avataar of successful petrol models. But the country’s second largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) has taken a u-turn on the diesel variant of its flagship model Santro and is planning to launch an LPG variant instead.

“We have no plans of a diesel version of the Santro but are looking to follow up the CNG powered Santro with a LPG one next year,” HMIL managing director H S Lheem said. “Though the CNG Santro is well received, its reach is limited as the fuel is available only in select few cities. LPG on the other hand has a wider presence, hence having a LPG Santro makes a lot of sense.”

Non-availability of a 1.1 litre diesel engine is said to be the prime reason for the Korean automaker’s shelving the plans of a diesel Santro. Only six months ago, Lheem had said that the company is “considering a diesel variant of the Santro as the potential for a small diesel car is high in the country.”

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While Santro diesel is now ruled out, Hyundai is on track for the launch of the diesel variant for its other offering in the compact car segment Getz by December this year. Getz diesel will be powered either by a 1.2 or 1.3 litre engine.

The LPG Santro is expected to be out by the first half of 2008 and it will be the second such model in the small car segment after Wagon R Duo. Santro may also sport a similar 32 litre LPG toroidal tank that is available in Wagon R. Though there is no official confirmation yet, Gurgaon-based Minda Autogas is tipped to be the supplier for the LPG kits.

“We are working on an LPG-powered Santro but the time of introduction has not been decided yet and will depend on Hyundai. Santro will have the same tank as that of the Wagon R Duo,” Minda Autogas business head V K Jain said. Minda supplies LPG kits for Wagon R Duo and also the CNG kits that are retrofitted in Santro CNG, which was launched earlier this year.

While a CNG kit at Rs 55,000 costs almost double than that of LPG at around Rs 22-25,000, its running cost is much lower than LPG (see table). But as the success of Wagon R Duo shows, LPG with its pan-India availability is a better bet than a largely Delhi/NCR driven CNG. Minda supplies as many as 2,800-3,000 LPG kits to Maruti Suzuki every month for Wagon R Duo.