Maruti Suzuki is facing delays in acquiring permission from Fiat to fit a 1.6-liter Multi-jet diesel engine into its SX4. Fiat apparently wants to release a more powerful Linea with the same engine and then grant the license to Maruti Suzuki. Maruti is not willing to plonk the 1.9-liter engine that the European SX4 uses since costs would go out of hand.
In the last six months, Honda managed to sell 15,000 Cities while Maruti sold just 8000 SX4s. The agony is Suzuki's in-house candidate, the Swift Dzire, has diverted buyers away from the SX4.
Expect to see a SX4 diesel in India next year. Expect to see a more powerful Fiat Linea before that.
Source - NDTV Profit
