In an desprate move to defend market share, the country's largest  carmaker Maruti Suzuki India will launch five cars in CNG version in a  single day in the second week of next month.
The company, whose market share has come down below 50 per cent in the  quarter ended June for the first time in its history, will unleash  factory-fitted CNG options of its best selling Alto, compact cars Estilo  and WagonR, multi-purpose vehicle Eeco and mid-sized sedan SX4.
"The CNG models will be very important in our portfolio. We are the  first company to come out with factory-fitted CNG cars and we will have  the first mover's advantage in the market," MSI Chief General Manager  (Marketing) Shashank Srivastava said in New Delhi.
 In the April-June quarter, MSI's market share fell to 47.59 per cent  from earlier over 55 per cent in the 15 lakh units per year domestic car  segment. It had sold 2,06,377 units during the quarter in a total  market of 4,33,641 units.
The company has decided to launch all the five versions on a single day  in the second week of August because there is no particular segment for  CNG cars unlike other models, which can be specified into different  strata, Srivastava said.
"It is the launch of a technology, not the cars. It is the concept of factory-fitted CNG models," he added.
Besides, MSI will launch a two new versions of its small car Alto on August 4 with a 1.0 litre K-series engine.
The Alto is the best selling car model in India averaging over 20,000  units per month. The company has sold nearly 14 lakh units since its  launch in September 2000.
"We are expecting about 25 per cent increase in Alto's sales after the  launch of the new variant -- AltoK10," Srivastava said, adding the first  time buyers are gradually going for more sophisticated and  feature-oriented models.
In April, MSI had introduced BS IV compliant Alto on the existing 800cc F Series engine and this model will continue.
When asked about the possible price of the new Alto, he said: "There is  a huge gap between the top model of existing Alto and the base version  of Estilo. The base variant of AltoK10 may be priced between this  range."
The existing Alto is priced between 
` 2.29 lakh and 
` 2.81 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), while the Estilo starts at 
` 3.20 lakh and goes up to 
` 4.10 lakh.
AltoK10 will have a mileage of 20.2 kilometer per litre as per Automotive Research Association of India standards.
The company currently offers retro-fitted CNG versions in Alto.  Besides, it also offers dual fuel mode in M800 and Omni, which are  available in LPG-cum-petrol variants also. Earlier WagonR was also  coming with a LPG variant, but MSI stopped producing it after launching  the new WagonR.
- PTI