Top Maruti Suzuki India seeks correct accounting of greenhouse gas emission benefits of ethanol

Car market leader Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Monday sought correct accounting of greenhouse gas emission benefits of ethanol blended fuel under the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) norms. The second phase of CAFE norms came into effect from April this year. The regulation first came into force in India from April 1, 2017.

It is aimed at lowering fuel consumption of vehicles by reducing their CO2 emissions, mandating the average corporate CO2 emission to be less than 130 gm/km by 2022, applicable to all petrol, diesel, LPG and CNG fuelled vehicles. Under CAFE II regulations, the average corporate CO2 emission must be less than 113 gm/km.

The corporate average in CAFE refers to the sales-volume weighted average for every automobile manufacturer.
To promote ethanol and flex-fuel, SIAM has made some specific policy enablers requests to the road transport and highways ministry, Maruti Suzuki India MD and CEO Hisashi Takeuchi said at a SIAM event here.

"One of our key requests is for correct accounting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission benefits of Ethanol in CAFE," he added.

Further, Takeuchi said that the car market leader is closely studying what India needs and therefore, working on a bouquet of technologies.

MSI displayed a prototype of its mass segment flex-fuel car which it said will meet BS VI regulations.

"The Wagon-R Flex-fuel model that is on display here has been developed locally in India. We also believe that WagonR being a mass-segment model would help in much faster adoption of this technology in the masses," he said.

Takeuchi said in the journey of decarbonisation, bio-fuels like ethanol are set to play a major and significant role.

India has committed carbon net zero by 2070. In COP26, the country also increased its commitment towards GHG emission intensity reduction from 33 per cent to 45 per cent by 2030.

TVS Motor Company Director and CEO KN Radhakrishnan said in two years time, every two-wheeler maker will have a flex fuel model in its line up.

The second set of results complying with Global NCAP’s new and more demanding crash test protocols were published in the #SaferCarsForIndia campaign today, supported by the FIA Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies.

The Mahindra Scorpio-N scored five stars for adult occupant protection and three stars for child occupant protection. The Maruti Suzuki Swift achieved one star for adult and one star for child occupant protection. The Maruti Suzuki S-Presso and Ignis both scored only one star for adult occupant protection and zero stars for child occupant protection.

The Mahindra Scorpio-N was tested in its basic safety specification fitted with two frontal airbags and ABS. Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and side curtain airbags are not standard however curtain airbags are standard in the majority of units produced. The lack of three point seatbelts affected the child occupant protection result, limiting it to only three stars.

The three Maruti Suzuki models, the Swift, S-Presso and Ignis, were tested in their basic safety specification with two frontal airbags and ABS. None of the three models provide ESC or side curtain airbags as standard or as optional equipment. All three models demonstrated unstable structures during frontal crash testing.

Global NCAP’s updated protocols assess frontal and side impact protection for all tested models, Electronic Stability Control (ESC), pedestrian protection and side impact pole protection assessments are also required for vehicles scoring the highest star ratings. More information on the latest protocol requirements can be found on the Global NCAP web site.