Maruti Suzuki had to discontinue their diesel engines when the BS6 emission norms kicked in. According to new reports, the manufacturer is working on bringing back the diesel. The 1.5-litre diesel engine was known for its refinement and driveability. The engine is expected to come back with Ertiga, XL6, Vitara Brezza and Ciaz. The manufacturer is expected to launch the engine in January’22.

The reports say that Maruti Suzuki is working on making the 1.5-litre DDiS engine BS6 compliant for the past year. The engine is being worked upon at the Manesar plant located in Haryana. The first vehicle to get the diesel engine back will be the XL6 which is slated to launch in Jan’22. The second vehicle on the list will be the Vitara Brezza which will be showcased at the Auto Expo 2022. Then there will be the Ertiga and finally the Ciaz.

“The diesel 1.5-litre engine may come with the new XL6 multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) that the company plans to launch around January. Later, it may be fitted to the Vitara Brezza that MSIL plans to launch in February at the Auto Expo and then to Ertiga MPV,” the source said.

The Ertiga and the Ciaz already were offered with the 1.5-litre diesel engine before it was discontinued. The engine used to produce 104 bhp of max power and 225 Nm of peak torque. The engine was mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox only. However, now the manufacturer might offer the engine with a mild-hybrid technology to boost the fuel efficiency.

It is not yet known if Maruti Suzuki will boost up the power figures or not. Also, there is nothing official about a new automatic transmission because the 4-speed automatic torque converter that Maruti Suzuki is using is quite old when compared to the competitors.

No diesel engine for smaller vehicles

We do not expect that Maruti Suzuki will offer diesel engine with smaller vehicles like Celerio, WagonR, Baleno, Swift and the Dzire. The Baleno, Dzire and the Swift were offered with a Fiat-sourced 1.3-litre DDiS Multijet diesel engine. The engine produced 74 bhp of max power and 190 Nm. It was also offered with the Vitara Brezza in which the engine was in a higher state of tune. So, the engine produced 88.5 bhp of max power and 200 Nm of peak torque. The 1.3-litre diesel engine was only offered with a 5-speed manual gearbox. This engine will not return as Fiat has discontinued the production of the engine.

Upcoming Maruti Suzuki vehicles

The first vehicle to launch will be the 2021 Celerio. It will be going on sale sometime this year. Then there is an all-new generation of the Vitara Brezza which should be launched next year. Then there is a new compact-SUV that is based on the Baleno and will share a lot of parts and underpinnings with the Baleno. It will sit below the Vitara Brezza. There is also a new flagship SUV under the works which is being developed with Toyota. It will be a mid-size SUV and will also be sold by Toyota after rebadging it.