June 23, 2014: Honda Cars have got the rare distinction of being the most fuel efficient cars in India. This is based on a list of top 15 fuel efficient cars prepared and reported by Economic Times. Earlier in the Indian car market car’s from Maruti Suzuki were known as the most fuel efficient cars. Surprisingly according to the list Maruti Suzuki does not have any of its models in the list of top 15 fuel efficient cars. Honda diesel powered City leads the pack with 26 kms to a litre followed by Amaze the compact sedan from Honda which delivers 25.8 kms per litre.
Delivering a high mileage goes with the philosophy of Honda which was a late entrant into the diesel car segment. Jnaneswar Sen, Honda’s senior vice-president of marketing and sales was quoted as saying “As a latecomer to the diesel market, we had set the goal of delivering highest mileage. We were able to achieve it by innovation that is also in line with Honda’s global philosophy to make environment-friendly and mileage conscious cars.” There is four months waiting period for Honda City and this success is attributed to the fuel efficiency that it delivers. The sale of Honda cars rose by 83 per cent ending March 2014.
Honda has been able to achieve a higher mileage due to its “Earth Dreams” technology which it launched for its diesel cars. The manufacturers are trying to use turbo chargers and down sizing engines to make the cars more fuel efficient as the buyers today are giving more importance to fuel efficiency. The challenge is even more since the price gap between diesel and petrol is narrowing down. According to the data released by Economic Times after Honda City and Honda Amaze the other cars in the order of fuel efficiency are:
Chevrolet Beat Diesel- 25.4 kmpl
Tata Indigo ECS Diesel- 25.4 kmpl
Tata Nano Gasoline- 25.4 kmpl
Tata Indigo XL Diesel- 25.2 kmpl
Tata Indica eV2 Diesel- 25.2 kmpl
Tata Nano (BSIII) Gasoline- 25.2 kmpl
Hyundai Xcent Diesel- 24.4 kmpl
Hyundai Grand i10 Diesel- 24kmpl
Toyota Etios Cross Diesel- 24kmpl
Toyota Etios Diesel- 23.6 kmpl
Toyota Liva Diesel- 23.6 kmpl
Tata Indigo XL Dicor Diesel- 23.6kmpl