The announcement of the Central Government of withdrawing the subsidies that have been provided to mild hybrid diesel cars under the FAME scheme has certainly been a bit of a dampener for Maruti Suzuki India. The company already has the Ertiga and Ciaz which come with the Smart Hybrid Vehicle System (SHVS) and which attracted incentive under this scheme. Under the FAME or 'Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric both the Ciaz and the Ertiga were receiving a subsidy of Rs. 13,000. This subsidy, however, was applicable only on the on-road price of both the cars and hence the ex-showroom prices of both the cars remains unchanged.
The Ciaz SHVS starts at Rs. 7.73 lakh going all the way up to 9.54 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) and there is no change in this figure. It's the on-road price of the Ciaz that gets affected as the variants with SHVS will not carry the Rs. 13000 subsidy given earlier and hence the on-road price of the Ciaz SHVS will start from Rs. 8.7 lakh going up to 10.7 lakh.
The Ertiga too will be the affected car and it too will not see any changes in the ex-showroom price, which starts from Rs. 7.13 lakh to 8.71 lakh. The on-road price of the Ertiga will, therefore, start from Rs. 8 lakh to 9.8 lakh for the ZDI Plus variant. That said, mild hybrids will continue to attract a lower 11.5% excise cut under the government's union budget policy to promote the cleaner technology.
Mild hybrid vehicles use the energy generated while applying the brakes and turns it into electric energy that is then stored in a battery. This energy can then be used to turn the starter motor when the car's start-stop system needs it.
Also, the SHVS technology is not just limited to these two cars as more Maruti products are expected to get them in future. While we have already spotted the Baleno and the next-generation Swift Dzire with SHVS badging, the new-gen Swift hatchback is also expected to get it when the car is launched in India.
