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Maruti Suzuki CEO Backs Multi-Pathway Green Mobility Over EV-Only Push, With CNG at Nearly 40% of Sales
Maruti Suzuki CEO Hisashi Takeuchi said nearly 40% of its sales are CNG cars, and the company has started collecting cow dung in Gujarat for biogas. He argued India needs a multi-pathway green transition beyond EVs, with bio-CNG as a key option.
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The numbers
Figures from NDTV Profit,
| Vehicles produced and sold last year: | 2.4 million |
|---|---|
| Indian production capacity: | 2.9 million vehicles annually |
| Share of Suzuki Group global production from India: | nearly 60% |
| Localisation for internal-combustion engine vehicles: | nearly 95% |
| India electricity from coal-based thermal plants: | around 75% |
| Car penetration in India: | 34 vehicles per 1,000 people |
| EV export markets: | more than 100 countries |
Why it matters to operators and investors
Maruti Suzuki says nearly 40% of its sales are CNG cars, so retailers and dealers should keep CNG stock and service capability strong instead of planning around an EV-only shift.
What to watch next
- Maruti Suzuki's quarterly CNG share of sales moving clearly above or below the current ~40%
- Announcements of new biogas collection sites, partners or plants beyond Gujarat
- Central or state policy changes on EV subsidies, CNG taxation or emission norms
- Rival EV launches and registration data that show faster EV uptake in Maruti Suzuki's core segments
- Any shift in the coal-based share of India's electricity mix, currently around 75%
Likely next moves
Our read of what comes next — analysis, not reported by the source.
- Maruti Suzuki is likely to keep presenting CNG, hybrids and bio-CNG as complementary routes in public and policy forums, and to widen the Gujarat biogas effort beyond its early collection stage.
- Expect Maruti Suzuki to extend factory-fitted CNG across more models, since the fuel already accounts for nearly 40% of its sales.
- Rivals with stronger EV line-ups may stress zero tailpipe emissions and challenge the claim that bio-CNG is a scalable green option.
- Government bodies may study biogas and compressed biogas as a way to use farm and dairy waste, which could bring in dairy cooperatives and gas distributors as Maruti Suzuki's partners.
- Maruti Suzuki may be slower than EV-first rivals to push its own EV models hard, relying on the grid-emissions argument to justify the pace.
The counter-case
The case against this reading — not reported by the source.
This is a CEO advocacy interview, not new operating data. Its main job is to defend the product mix Maruti Suzuki is strongest in (CNG and hybrids) while it is behind rivals in mass-market EVs. The 'nearly 40% of sales are CNG' figure is self-reported, with no stated denominator (domestic passenger vehicles, total volume, or only eligible models), period, or source. It may also reflect supply-side push, since Maruti offers factory CNG on many models, rather than durable consumer preference. The '75% of electricity is coal-based' argument is selective. Lifecycle studies generally still find EVs cleaner than petrol or CNG even on a coal-heavy grid, and the grid is getting cleaner each year while a CNG car's emissions stay fixed. Bio-CNG is the weakest link. Cow-dung collection in Gujarat is at pilot stage, so it is nowhere near the scale needed to fuel a fleet that size. Today's CNG cars run almost entirely on fossil natural gas, much of it imported, which brings price and supply risk. The narrative could also be undercut by tightening fuel-efficiency and emissions rules that favour EVs and strong hybrids, and by a shrinking running-cost gap between CNG and petrol if gas prices rise. For retail and investor readers, the 'multi-pathway' message reads as positioning, not evidence of a competitive advantage.
The source
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