Fiat, Suzuki ink pact for Multijet

Fiat and Suzuki Motor Corporation have reached an agreement for the supply of Fiat’s small diesel engine -- the 1.3-litre Multijet -- to Maruti Suzuki. Fiat India will supply up to 100,000 Multijet 75hp SDE engines every year for a three-year period that begins in the third week of January. Production of the engine for Maruti will start at Fiat India Automobiles’ Ranjangaon plant near Pune.

These volumes will be in addition to the 1.3-litre Multijet SDE engines already licensed by Fiat and manufactured by Suzuki Powertrain India. The 1.3 Multijet is a BS IV four-cylinder, 16V engine. It powers the all-new Swift and these additional supplies will enable Maruti to fulfill its deliveries of the car to the over 100,000 buyers who booked it. An estimated 80 percent of demand was for the diesel version. The SX4 and Ritz are also powered by the 1.3 Multijet engine.

With the colossal swing towards diesel-engined cars in the Indian market, carmakers have struggled to supply enough diesel models to their customers. With over 100,000 bookings for the all-new Swift, the problem was particularly significant for Maruti. Earlier, Maruti Suzuki had imported diesel engines from its Hungary facility.