The future is multi-fuel, multiple powertrains: RS Kalsi, Senior Executive Director, Marketing & Sales, Maruti Suzuki India

Driving the new Maruti Suzuki Ertiga, one number is sure to attract your attention—the average fuel-efficiency figure displayed on the speedometer screen. On the highways, it will hover around 19kpl, and in city traffic it’s unlikely to drop below 15-16kpl. And here I am talking about petrol, not the diesel which is generally more fuel-efficient.

Good fuel-efficiency is a function of many things—a car’s aerodynamic body, use of light-weight materials, driving habits—but in the new Ertiga it’s also due to a new petrol engine, called the K15 that gets the smart hybrid technology and a lithium-ion battery. “Even in the multi-utility vehicle (MUV) segment, the market is shifting to petrol,” says RS Kalsi, senior executive director, Marketing & Sales, Maruti Suzuki India, “and to ensure low running costs for customers, companies have to innovate.”

Maruti Suzuki India Limited