Top Cars And Their Engines Under Rs 10 Lakh

If you want a new car under Rs 10 lakh, you have a raft of petrol options (with a few of them offering CNG as well). But with diesel, your choices are limited

An engine is, of course, the most integral part of a car and a critical criterion for buying a new vehicle. Developing an engine requires quite the investment, and that’s why carmakers generally offer similar engines in different cars. In this report, we take a look at the various engines carmakers have to offer under Rs 10 lakh:

Note: We only included engines available in at least one variant of a car priced below Rs 10 lakh. So, a few variants with certain engine-transmission combinations might exceed the ex-showroom value of Rs 10 lakh.

Maruti Suzuki

* The automatic transmission in the case of the Baleno is a CVT and not an AMT.

** The mild hybrid system is only available with the automatic transmission on the Vitara Brezza.

*** The Swift and Dzire only get a start/stop system and not the entire mild-hybrid setup.

**** The Ertiga is the only car that gets a CNG kit with the 1.5-litre petrol engine.

Maruti Suzuki is India’s leading carmaker, and it’s no surprise that it has quite a few engines in its portfolio. In fact, all its engines are available in at least one variant of a car under Rs 10 lakh. Maruti has six petrol engines, making it the mass-market manufacturer with the most petrol engines under Rs 10 lakh.

These engines power a range of hatchbacks, sedans, SUVs, and even MPVs! Maruti also offers an automatic transmission option with four of its six engines. The remaining two are used in the Alto and Eeco, and people buying these cars aren’t really looking for an automatic transmission.

Maruti also offers many cars with factory-fitted CNG kits. The Alto, WagonR, S-Presso, Eeco, and even the Ertiga are available with a CNG kit from the factory.

A couple of the Maruti engines also feature a mild-hybrid system. These add features like start/stop and also help in boosting fuel efficiency.

Hyundai

* The Aura, i20, and Venue are not available with a CNG option. The Venue also doesn’t get any automatic transmission with the 1.2-litre engine. 

** The iMT gearbox is a clutchless manual transmission.

Hyundai takes the cake when it comes to offering the most number of engines under Rs 10 lakh — seven, if you count both petrol and diesel engines. More importantly, unlike Maruti, Hyundai also offers turbocharged petrol engines in multiple models. 

As far as automatic transmissions are concerned, Hyundai does a good job of offering it with most of its engines. Some engines see a change in power and torque output when mated to an automatic transmission as well.

Hyundai cars, however, don’t get any sort of mild-hybrid system, unlike the Marutis.

Kia

Kia shares all its engines with Hyundai as they are both part of the same parent company. However, there are slight changes when it comes to transmissions. Remember that while Kia offers petrol and diesel engines, it has fewer options on its roster as it sells lesser models in India (compared to Hyundai).

Most Kia engines come with the option of manual and automatic transmissions. Moreover, you get an iMT clutchless manual (also available in Hyundai cars), a mix of manual and automatic. Kia’s diesel engine under Rs 10 lakh doesn’t get an automatic transmission, although you do get the two-pedal convenience when you go beyond that price bracket.

Just like Hyundai, Kia also doesn’t have any kind of mild-hybrid system. 

Tata

* The Altroz is only available with a manual transmission.

While Tata offers a good mix of petrol and diesel engines under Rs 10 lakh, its smaller cars like the Tiago, Tigor, and Punch only get a naturally aspirated petrol. The diesel engines are available only with the relatively larger Altroz and Nexon (which also get turbocharged petrol engines).

Apart from the Altroz, all Tata cars in this price bracket get an optional automatic configuration. Please note that the carmaker only offers AMT gearboxes with these; none of its cars here get a mild-hybrid system.

Mahindra

Mahindra has two petrol offerings in its portfolio: KUV100 and  XUV300. It uses a naturally aspirated petrol engine for the former, and turbocharged petrol for the latter. All other cars from Mahindra under Rs 10 lakh get a diesel engine only, and with the Bolero and Bolero Neo, you don’t get even an automatic transmission. The XUV300 diesel, however, does get an optional automatic. 

Mahindra doesn’t offer any kind of hybrid setup.

Skoda/Volkswagen

Both Skoda and Volkswagen sell only petrol vehicles in India, and that is why the duo only has two petrol engines under Rs 10 lakh. The naturally aspirated 1.0-litre engine is only available with the Polo (and with manual transmission). On the other hand, the turbocharged engine is offered in multiple cars and can be had with an optional automatic. 

Neither carmaker offers any kind of hybrid setup.

Renault/Nissan

* Magnite is only available with a manual transmission.

Renault and Nissan (along with sub-brand Datsun) are the other petrol-only carmakers in India, but they do have a bunch of engines to offer under Rs 10 lakh. The Kwid and redi-Go get the smallest engine of the lot (that too only with manual transmission).

The 1.0-litre naturally aspirated petrol can be found in the Triber, Magnite, and Kiger. This engine also powers the Kwid and redi-Go, but in a detuned state. It gets an automatic transmission on all cars, except the Magnite.

There is a 1.2-litre naturally aspirated engine, only found on the Datsun Go and Go+ (teamed with a manual transmission and a CVT). The similarly sized turbocharged engine is saved for the Kiger and Magnite, and that gets a CVT transmission as well.

The larger 1.5-litre naturally aspirated engine powers Renault and Nissan’s biggest cars, the Duster and Kicks, respectively. There is no hybrid setup on any of the above cars.

Honda

* The WR-V is only available with a manual transmission.

Honda offers two petrol and one diesel engine under Rs 10 lakh, but there are limitations. The smallest petrol engine is available with a manual and a CVT transmission on most cars. The larger unit is only available with a manual transmission, that too only in the fourth-gen City. The diesel engine is the same across Honda’s range of cars, although it only gets an automatic transmission with the Amaze. There is no hybrid setup on any Honda car.

Toyota

*The mild hybrid system is only available with the automatic transmission option in the Urban Cruiser.

Toyota only sells the Glanza and Urban Cruiser (both rebadged Maruti cars) for under Rs 10 lakh. This essentially means that the carmaker has no engine below the Rs 10 lakh mark. It uses the same Maruti engines as the Baleno and the Vitara Brezza, both of which get an optional automatic and a mild-hybrid setup.

Conclusion

Engine choices are crucial to new car buyers in the sub-10 lakh price bracket. The choices when it comes to diesel engines are limited, considering only Hyundai, Kia, Tata, Mahindra, and Honda offer them. Also, in this price range, only the petrol engines get a mild-hybrid setup.