Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) has said that its Smart Hybrid Vehicle from Suzuki (SHVS) technology is a win-win for all – customer and country — as it does not impact environment.

The company is enjoying the first mover advantage in the SHVS technology.

This is evident from the positive response to its two products – Ciaz sedan and multi-utility vehicle Ertiga – that have this technology.

There are more than 40,000 units of both the vehicles on road over the last four-five months. Of the around 5,000 units of the Ciaz and 6,000 units of the Ertiga sold every month, almost 58 per cent and 57 per cent sales come from the SHVS variants, respectively, the company said.

“SHVS is an affordable technology as it is an important step to hybridisation. It makes hybrid technology accessible to a large number of people. Other important benefits to the customer include increased fuel efficiency, lower emission and ease of driving with Gear Shift Indicator,” RS Kalsi, Executive Director (Marketing and Sales), MSIL, told BusinessLine .

With the government taking some initiatives such as Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric vehicles (FAME), to provide subsidies on electric and hybrid vehicles, the traction of sales of such vehicles are going up. Apart from the customers getting better mileage, under the FAME rule, they also get discount of around ₹30,000 on such vehicles.

Also, with the states like Delhi introducing odd-even formula in December and again coming up with the same from April 15-30, sales of such vehicles are expected to go up. Besides, with the Delhi government bringing down value added tax to five per cent (from 12.5 per cent) on electric and hybrid vehicles, it will be further advantage for vehicles such as Ciaz and Ertiga, say industry experts.

The SHVS technology is low on emissions and offers ease of driving, and one of the major reasons for gaining popularity of such vehicles is fuel efficiency, which improves by more than 20 per cent (in come cases around 50 per cent).

It has some technologies including the integrated starter generator (ISG) that assists engine with its motor function and also helps in energy regeneration, giving better mileage in return.

“This has been a good strategy that the company has made before odd-even formula in Delhi or the FAME regulation as sales for such vehicles will only grow in future. Such vehicles come with lower tax bracket, gives better mileage to the customers and are also environment-friendly,” said Puneet Gupta, associate director at IHS Automotive said.

Also, with the Supreme Court ruling to ban diesel taxis and allow only CNG vehicles on Delhi’s roads, such technology (SHVS) will make sense for taxi companies or aggregators to purchase because these vehicles (hybrid or electric) are exempted, he added.

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