July 30, 2010. In an unprecedented move to defend market share, the country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India will launch five cars in compressed natural gas (CNG) version in a single day during 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.

   Maruti Suzuki India Chief General Manager Shashank Srivastava told that CNG models will be very important in their portfolio because they are the first company to come out with factory fitted CNG cars and they will have the first mover's advantage in the market.

   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.

   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 Maruti Suzuki India stopped producing it after launching the new WagonR.