India's largest passenger car maker Maruti Suzuki is said to have cleared the proposal for the manufacturing of its first light commercial vehicles (LCV).
According to reports, the company is looking forward to foray into the LCV segment with its first diesel powertrain vehicle which is already in the making. The new vehicle, codenamed Y9T, will be powered by an all new two-cylinder 800 cc diesel engine. The company plans to roll out the vehicle from its Gujarat facility.
The diesel engine for the upcoming vehicle will be developed by Maruti itself. The company has been using Italian car maker Fiat's multi-jet diesel engine in the past. Apparently, Maruti is also planning to extend the newly developing diesel powertrains to three and four cylinder engines. The vehicle will likely be unveiled in 2016.
The new LCV is being developed at its India Research and Development (R&D) Centre.
"The two-cylinder 800cc engine, a naturally aspirated variant for LCV and turbocharged variant for small cars are at an advanced stage of development. The company is also strongly considering extending the family of diesel engines to the 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine and 1.4-litre four-cylinder engine," Economic Times quoted its sources as saying.
The upcoming LCV from Maruti will directly compete with the Tata Ace. The company is yet to comment on the newly approved plans. When contacted for response on the same, the company spokesperson refused to divulge any information saying that "As a policy, we do not comment on future plans and products," reported ET.
