India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki (MSIL) has hit back at automakers who are opposing a weight-based emission relief for smaller cars under the forthcoming Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE-3) norms. Maruti Suzuki India Senior Executive Director (Corporate Affairs) Rahul Bharti said on Monday that more than 90% of the world automobile market provides structured relaxations for small cars and some incorrect narratives are being pushed in a very irresponsible manner by makers of 'gas guzzlers'.
“China does it at about 1090 kg; Europe actually relaxes targets below 1115 kg; Korea at 1100 kg; Japan follows a continuous parabolic curve where the delta in target keeps on reducing with weight. The USA does it on a footprint of 41 square feet. Are they (some OEMs) saying that policy makers of all these countries Europe, US, China, Korean and Japan all have taken arbitrary decisions? One should be very careful and do one’s research before accusing the governments of all these countries as arbitrary,” said Bharti as rival carmakers such as Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Hyundai argue that a weight-based relaxation would skew the market in favour of a single player.
They contend that introducing a new vehicle sub-category defined by weight might impede India’s efforts to promote cleaner and safer automobiles. The original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) emphasised that emission norm relaxations should not extend to cars weighing up to 909 kg, having engine capacities up to 1200 cc, and lengths below 4000 mm. They pointed out that Maruti Suzuki dominates this segment, holding over 95% market share for vehicles under 909 kg.
The OEMs argued that if any CO₂ emission concessions are to be granted, they should cover all cars weighing up to 1170 kg, which reflects the industry’s current average.
Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles MD & CEO, Shailesh Chandra recently said that no leniency must be granted to small cars in the CAFE-3 norms on the basis of weight and affordability as it would compromise safety features while distracting from concrete action towards sustainable mobility. “We see absolutely no justification for any special concession for this specific category of cars, or any category of class may be small or big," said Chandra, who also heads industry body SIAM. The industry body is a divided house on the issue.
On critics' remarks that this relaxation compromises safety because five-star cars do not fall under the 909kg weight band, Bharti said that Maruti Suzuki provides six airbags as standard across all variants and not just the top variants. “At least our cars are very safe. I should also tell you, these (small) cars are being exported to all over the world, 100 countries of the world. Don't tell us that the whole world is buying unsafe cars. So that makes small cars absolutely safe,” he added.
When asked if the company’s small cars like Alto and S Presso would suffer if relaxation is not given, he said, “The problem is not in the car. The problem is targets. They become really unscientific.” Bharti stated the risk is that if the targets become unscientific, then a small car which produces the lowest CO2 will have to be discontinued. “That we don't want. So this is why we want to keep the targets realistic, tough, but realistic and with some stretch, of course, but they should not be globally unachievable,” he added.
The CAFE norms, started from 2017, set a limit on average fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of a manufacturer's overall fleet with an aim to push carmakers to improve their overall fuel efficiency and reduce emissions. The CAFE 2 began in 2022 and the next phase CAFE 3 is all set to start from April 2027, for which new criteria are currently under discussion between various stakeholders with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) under the Power Ministry releasing a draft regulation in September this year for feedback.
The updated emission norms require fleet-wide CO2 emissions to be lowered to 91.7 grams per kilometre. The most recent draft also includes a proposed CO2 allowance of 3 g/km for each reporting year applicable to vehicles weighing less than 909 kg, equipped with engines up to 1200 cc, and measuring under 4 meters in length. This concession is capped at a maximum of 9 g/km in total.