Domestic car market leader Maruti Udyog Limited, which had till recently refrained from making a serious foray into the diesel-powered segment, foresees 20 per cent of its sales coming from such cars by 2010.

To that end, it has lined up the launch of another diesel-driven car to complement the diesel Swift, which is enjoying a high demand, much like its petrol-driven sibling.

Since the company will be producing about a million cars by that time, the sales of its diesel-driven cars will be about 200,000 a year, which is approximately the total number of diesel-driven passenger cars sold at present in the country.

Taking into account the cars driven by alternative fuels such as compressed natural gas  and liquefied petroleum gas, Maruti's non-petrol cars will account for as much as 25 per cent of its sales in three years. The company's current capacity, on an annualised basis, is about 650,000 a year.

Interestingly, Maruti now has about 55 per cent share of the market without selling diesel-driven cars, which account for about 20 per cent of the market now.

Maruti Managing Director Jagdish Khattar, declining to comment on the specifics of the diesel strategy, said: "Our fighting ability has been improved by being in the diesel and LPG segment. The handicap is gone."

Until the launch of the diesel Swift in January this year, Maruti had dabbled only gingerly in diesel-driven cars, launching a diesel variant each of Zen and Esteem, both with capacity constraints since the engines were imported.

Having given up on the government for bringing parity in the prices of diesel and petrol, Maruti has set up its own diesel engine manufacturing plant. The plant's capacity, 100,000 engines a year, is being raised to 300,000 a year.

Impetus also came from the rising popularity of diesel-driven cars in Europe and India. "Diesel cars will gain in popularity because these engines are more efficient in utilising the fuel," said Dilip Chenoy, director-general of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, the industry body.

The Maruti Saga

The first car to be fitted with engines from Maruti's new plant is Swift. The next car will be either similar in size to Swift, powered by a 1.3 litre engine, or bigger. It will be difficult to instal diesel engines on the smaller cars -- Wagon R, Zen or Alto -- since their weight and size warrant a bigger car, at least a compact.

Maruti is hoping that its multi-fuel strategy -- the company also makes cars fitted with compressed natural gas kits and is getting into liquefied petroleum gas in a big way - will give it a sharper edge over competition.

The next diesel car from Maruti will most certainly have the same engine that drives that diesel Swift. The Fiat-derived JTD diesel engine won the International Engine of the Year award only last year and is successfully powering many a new Fiat in Europe.