Maruti Suzuki discontinues diesel variants of premium hatchback Ignis due to low demand

New Delhi: The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) has stopped production of diesel version of its premium hatchback Ignis due to low demand.The company, which launched the model in January last year, has sold more than 72,000 units so far. The auto maker registered average monthly sales of over 4,500 units of Ignis during the January-May 2018 period.[caption id="attachment_4511217" align="alignleft" width="380"]

Maruti Suzuki Ignis. Image courtesy - company website.[/caption]When contacted an MSI spokesperson told PTI: "Maruti Suzuki listens to customers' demand and accordingly makes efforts to meet their evolving aspirations. Therefore, it is business prudence to keep the number of variants in line with customers' requirements."Ignis is retailed through company's premium NEXA channel and helps MSI in expanding its range and presence, with an eye on the future, the spokesperson added. Ignis was the third model to be sold through Nexa dealerships.With the launch of the Ignis the company consciously tried to shed its image of a small car maker for a typical middle class Indian family.The model would now be available with 1.2 litre petrol engine mated to both manual and automatic transmissions. The 1.3 litre diesel versions have been discontinued.The petrol variants of the model are priced between Rs 4.66 lakh and Rs 7.04 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).