India’s leading passenger vehicle manufacturers, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd and Toyota Kirloskar Motor, have sought to reassure customers over the use of E20 petrol, saying extensive testing and real-world data show no evidence that the higher ethanol blend causes engine damage, excessive wear and tear or a rise in insurance claims.
Speaking to NDTV Profit, executives from both companies said concerns surrounding E20 fuel are largely unfounded and that any vehicle-related complaints are more likely linked to fuel adulteration rather than ethanol content.
Maruti Suzuki’s Senior Executive Officer Rahul Bharti said the company has conducted extensive testing across both new and older vehicles.
“There is this concern or fear on corrosion, wear and tear reduction in life. Want to give a statement of confidence, there is no such concern,” Bharti said. He added that Maruti has tested E20 fuel in vehicles manufactured before 2010 and found no abnormal wear or reliability issues.
The company’s after-sales data also supports this conclusion. Maruti serviced over 2.5 crore vehicles during FY26, including more than 1.5 crore older-generation cars.
“Even in those cars we have not noticed anything of concern,” Bharti said, adding that customers can be confident E20 fuel will not cause additional wear or tear in Maruti Suzuki vehicles.
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Toyota Kirloskar Motor echoed the same view. Country Head Vikram Gulati said neither Toyota nor the wider automotive industry has observed any increase in vehicle issues attributable to E20 petrol.
“There have been no such complaints coming to our dealerships related to E20 fuel,” Gulati said.
Both companies also dismissed concerns that E20 has resulted in higher insurance claims. Bharti said Maruti has not witnessed any increase in claims linked to the fuel, while Toyota similarly said it has seen no trend connecting insurance claims with E20 usage.
On complaints occasionally raised by motorists using E20, both manufacturers pointed to fuel contamination as a more likely explanation.
Bharti said fuel adulteration remains a separate industry challenge that existed before E20 was introduced and continues to be monitored jointly with oil marketing companies.
“People that use E20 that are complaining about various issues could be related to fuel adulteration,” he said, noting that oil companies regularly conduct quality checks at fuel stations.
The executives acknowledged that E20 petrol does lead to a small reduction in fuel efficiency because ethanol has a lower calorific value than petrol.
Maruti estimates the difference between E10 and E20 at around 3% to 3.5%, while Toyota puts the impact at roughly 3% to 4%.
However, both stressed that the reduction is within expected engineering limits and does not indicate any mechanical problem.
The companies also highlighted ethanol’s higher octane rating, which could enable future engine designs with higher compression ratios. Bharti said higher-ethanol fuels such as E85 could eventually help recover part of the mileage loss while improving engine performance and low-end torque.
Toyota said the government’s transition from E10 to E20 followed extensive studies by independent testing agencies and described it as a well-calibrated policy decision. The company also expects flex-fuel vehicles, capable of running on multiple ethanol blends, to become more widely available over time.
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