KARACHI: Pak Suzuki Motor Company Ltd has discontinued the booking of CNG-fitted Mehran variants from July 10, according to a letter that the company recently sent to its dealers.

“Keeping in view the current low demand for CNG vehicles, the company has decided to discontinue all CNG variants of Suzuki Mehran,” it said.

Orders that are already in the pipeline will still be served, the letter added.

Mehran was the last locally assembled car that was offered with a factory-fitted CNG kit. All other models were phased out over the years as CNG shortages made the segment unviable.

The share of CNG-fitted vehicles in total production and sales of Pak Suzuki was over 80 per cent until a few years ago, according to an official of Pak Suzuki.

The CNG sector has languished for many years because of the suspension of gas supply in Punjab for two years and three off days every week at Sindh-based CNG stations, he said.

Another reason behind low demand for factory-fitted CNG vehicles was the declining petrol price. It is now Rs71.30 per litre, down 37pc from Rs113.24 on October 1, 2013. Last year, its price was Rs64.27 per litre.

Pak Suzuki introduced CNG versions of Mehran, Bolan and Ravi in 2001. CNG-fitted Baleno, Alto and Cultus were introduced in 2002.

The government suspended the imports of CNG kits and cylinders in 2012 because of gas shortages, which forced assemblers to halt the booking of CNG-fitted vehicles.

The import ban on CNG kits and cylinders for factory-fitted vehicles was lifted in July 2014 despite lingering gas shortages.

All Pakistan CNG Association Chairman Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha has been hoping for a revival of the CNG sector, mainly in Punjab, since then. “The consumption of CNG continues to improve in Punjab where it has recently gone from zero to 50 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd),” he added.

This is far below the 200mmcfd peak it hit before the ban was imposed. Due to no gas in Punjab from 2013 to 2015, many people removed CNG kits and cylinders from their vehicles. These kits and cylinders were later sold through dealers in other provinces where gas availability was comparatively better than Punjab, he said.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2017