Maruti warns small cars face wipeout if emission norms turn unscientific

Auto-maker Maruti on Monday (December 1, 2025) warned that “small cars will have to be discontinued” if the government’s proposed norms for lowering fuel consumption and carbon emissions become unscientific and unjust.

Maruti Suzuki Executive Director, Corporate Affairs, Rahul Bharti fired back at Tata Motors and Mahindra, dismissing their letter to Union Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar branding proposed weight-based emission exemptions as “arbitrary”. He called their claims “incorrect facts and narratives irresponsibly pushed by makers of gas guzzlers.”

“I wish they took a national view rather than the view of their company,” Mr Bharti said during an online press meet to declare monthly sales figures.

The remarks are over the draft Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE)-3 framework which has driven a rift in the auto industry. Under the proposed framework brought out by Bureau of Energy Efficiency in late September, it seeks tightening fleet-average CO₂ emissions from 113 grams/km to 91.7 grams/km. The draft also includes a relaxation for petrol cars weighing 909 kg or less, measuring under four metres, and equipped with engines up to 1,200 cc which will get a 3g/km relaxation in their CO2 numbers.

It is this weight based reduction introduced at the behest of Maruti that several auto players have opposed claiming that it will “alter the level playing field”.

But Mr Bharti asserted that protecting small, affordable cars is consistent with global best practices.

“The governments of 90% of the world automobile market, including China, US, Europe, Japan, Korea provide structured relaxations for small cars. Are we saying the governments of all these countries are arbitrary”.

China offers benefits below 1,090 kg, Europe below 1,115 kg, Korea below 1,100 kg and Japan follows a parabolic curve that eases CO2 compliance for smaller vehicles. The United States follows a footprint-based approach.

Though Mr Bharti said that 3g/km exemption was minuscule, he evaded a question on whether Maruti had sought higher exemptions. “We have made out the scientific facts, the targets, the models and the actual values [of their emissions], and the global precedent. We trust their judgement.”