New Delhi: Maruti Suzuki India Ltd on Monday said it will prioritize compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles after their bookings hit a record high with prices of natural gas having risen at a slower pace than those of petrol and diesel. Simultaneously, the country’s largest carmaker has pushed back plans to scale up its electric vehicle (EV) production for the domestic market beyond 2,000 units a month to the second half of the fiscal year, citing prior commitments.
In February, the company had said it will make 2,000 EVs for the domestic market till July, after which the capacity will be increased for its eVitara, its only electric vehicle.
Maruti's decision comes at a time when rivals Tata Motors and Mahindra and Mahindra are witnessing a boom in EV sales. EV car sales touched an all-time monthly high of 26,000 units in May, with 6.5% penetration in overall sales, as per Vahan data.
First to raise
Maruti is the first carmaker to raise the issue of consumers' shift from petrol and diesel cars to CNG amid the West Asia war-induced fuel supply disruptions as well as the government's clean fuel push. Among top carmakers, Maruti, Hyundai Motor India and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicle have CNG options in their portfolios.
“We are trying our level best to see how we can increase the capacity of the CNG as well as the electric vehicles because we are seeing very good traction in the electric vehicle,” Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer-marketing and sales at Maruti Suzuki, said at a press conference on Monday.
“The booking (of EVs) has almost doubled. But at the same time, we have some prior commitments which we need to honour. So, we need to wait till September, when the capacities get enhanced…it (EV monthly production) will be around 2,000 till September,” he added.
While its CNG sales data was not immediately accessible from the Vahan portal, March-April retail sales data from the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (Fada) showed that the fuel has seen its share increase in passenger vehicles.
The data showed that the CNG share in overall sales rose to 22.6% in April 2026 as against 19.8% a year earlier. For March, the CNG penetration was 23.76% compared to 20.75% in the year ago period.
Domestic surge
According to numbers released by Maruti, its total domestic sales surged 40% to an all-time high of 190,337 units in May. Of these, nearly 40% were seen in the CNG powertrain options, as prices of the fuel rose less than the other options. While prices of petrol have risen by nearly ₹8 a litre, CNG prices have so far seen a ₹5 per kg increase, which has made CNG cars comparatively cheaper. Running CNG vehicles is typically much more economical.
Maruti going slow on EV production for the domestic market comes after it missed the production target of 70,000 for fiscal year 2026 by a huge margin. The company exported 25,000 EVs and registered 1,400 units domestically in FY26, missing the target set by its chairman R.C. Bhargava at the start of the fiscal year of manufacturing 70,000 units of its first electric vehicle e-Vitara.
Tata Motors PV, Mahindra and Mahindra and Hyundai Motor India
Tata Motors PV’s sales grew 42% in the domestic market to 59,090 units in May, with EVs crossing the 10,000-mark for the first time, clocking an 85% growth from a year ago. Mahindra's overall domestic sales rose 11% to 58,021 passenger vehicles. Mahindra does not disclose EV sales separately, with Vahan data showing that its EV sales doubled year-on-year to over 6,100 units. Hyundai Motor India’s domestic sales increased 9% year-on-year to 47,837 units.
Last month, Tata Motors PV, which leads India's EV market, had said it is looking to expand production by at least 50% to 15,000 per month for EVs, as demand is outpacing supply by a big margin.