Petrol, Diesel or CNG: Which Used Car Does Kolkata Prefer?

Known as the “City of Joy”, Kolkata is a city with people who know what they want. Heritage plays a significant role in the city’s culture, with the Hindustan Ambassador still a common sight. Even so, over the past two years, Kolkata has accounted for just over 2% of India’s second-hand car market.

The bustling city has shown a growing preference for compact used cars. Additionally, the pre-owned car market in Kolkata has consistently favored petrol and diesel-powered vehicles. Kolkata’s growing population has led to increased traffic, a key factor influencing used car buyers. Here is a look into Kolkata’s fuel preferences in the second hand car market.

Used Car Fuel Trends in Kolkata: Petrol Leads the Way

The internal CARS24 sales data and the comprehensive CARS24 Gears of Growth report sheds light on Kolkata’s used car sales. Here’s what we have.

Key Takeaways

• Petrol cars constitute the vast majority of used cars sold in Kolkata.
• As traffic is ever present in Kolkata, petrol vehicles are more preferred.
• Sales of diesel vehicles saw a slight decline due to increasing costs.
• Kolkata prefers barely any penetration in CNG with petrol and diesel still going strong.
• The share of petrol over diesel has grown in 2024 compared to 2023.

Does Fuel Type Affect Resale Value In Kolkata?

Fuel type does indeed play a major role in the resale value of a car. Over the past two years, more stringent emission regulations require diesel engines to have more expensive advanced emission control systems.This led to carmakers phasing out their compact diesel models in favour of petrol and CNG vehicles. This trend is slowly extending to second hand cars in Kolkata as well.

• Diesel remains popular in Kolkata’s used car market despite carmakers discontinuing diesel variants, but the used car market is still strong, leading to steady depreciation of diesel cars.
• Petrol vehicles enjoy higher resale value due to their consistent demand and other factors such as refinement and lower costs.
• Used CNG cars have shown a drop in numbers in 2024 vs 2023 even as more models become available.

• As in other metropolitan areas, automatic cars form a significant portion of the used cars in Kolkata, but these are mostly petrol powered.

   

Body Style and Fuel Type: The Correlation

Hatchbacks were the most popular body style for used cars in Kolkata followed by sedans and SUVs. While the share of hatchbacks grew slightly, sedans have lost ground to SUVs with more buyers choosing the all-road ready SUVs with higher ground clearance.

Hatchbacks:

Almost all new hatchbacks come only with petrol engines, while a few still offer diesel engines and CNG variants. Used hatchbacks in Kolkata continue to be predominantly petrol-powered, aligning with the nationwide trend. Compared to other cities, Kolkata’s preference, while vastly petrol, has seen a rise in demand for used diesel hatchbacks.

Sedans:

The best selling used sedans in Kolkata were mostly petrol driven though demand for diesel sedans was on the rise. Diesel continues to offer better efficiency and there are several diesel powered sedans and compact sedans available. The demand for diesel sedans rose slightly, with petrol sales seeing a marginal drop.

SUVs:

Interestingly in Kolkata, where diesels dominate the used SUV market in 2023, there was a marked change in 2024. Pre-owned SUV buyers showed a move to petrol with used diesel SUVs losing more than 10% share year-on-year. The demand for used petrol SUVS surged by 20% over the same period. It’s important to note that SUV sales also include MPVs, which contribute to the higher percentage of petrol and CNG-powered SUV

Why are Petrol Vehicles More Popular in Kolkata?

Petrol powered vehicles are the most popular choice across India. However, there are many  reasons behind this other than outright cost. Here are the reasons why petrol vehicles are popular in Kolkata:

• The lower price and lower cost of maintenance of used petrol cars makes them top pick.
• Petrol cars are more refined and more reliable making for hassle-free ownership.
• Be it hatchbacks, sedans or SUVs, the majority of automatic variants are petrol. Those seeking convenience at a lower price point will end up choosing a used petrol automatic car.

• Petrol remains widely available across India, while CNG infrastructure is still developing in many regions.

   

Most Popular Used Cars in Kolkata, Fuel Wise:

While petrol continues to be the most popular fuel for used cars in Kolkata, buyers in West Bengal’s capital city have maintained a sizable share of the market for diesel cars as well. Once again it’s hatchbacks that dominate the numbers. The Maruti Suzuki Swift was the most popular petrol used car in Kolkata. The Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire was the best selling diesel car, while the most popular CNG car was the Tata Tiago.

Petrol Cars:

Not surprisingly, the Maruti Suzuki Swift is top of the charts for the most popular used petrol cars in Kolkata. Four of the top five are hatchbacks, with the exception of the Honda City mid-size sedan in second place. This shows Kolkata’s taste of city car buyers prioritising practicality as well as style.

Diesel Cars:

Used Maruti Suzuki cars lead the way in diesel as well with the Swift Dzire compact sedan and Swift hatchback locking out the top two spots. The Hyundai Creta mid-size SUV was third and is a model on the rise. The Mahindra XUV500 was close behind in fourth place while the popular Renault Duster still finds a place in the top five thanks to its reputation and overall versatility.

CNG Cars:

Due to limited demand for used CNG cars in Kolkata, only four models made it to the top-sellers list. The Tata Tiago was the best selling name in used Tata cars in Kolkata with the other three being Maruti Suzuki car models. Maruti Suzuki’s virtual monopoly in the CNG space has been broken with new Tata and Hyundai models employing better packaging techniques. Tata also offer automatic CNG models.

Kolkata’s used car market may form only 2% of India’s total used car market but they have shown a consistent preference for petrol cars as well as diesel cars, with CNG cars failing to make a dent in the used car market in the city. The spending power is high and the growing sales of used SUV models in Kolkata have reiterated that.

Conclusion

Petrol and diesel cars continue to rule the used car sales charts in Kolkata despite the arrival of many alternative fuel sources including more affordable hybrid and electric vehicles. Stricter new government regulations are bringing in a slight change in perception, but petrol continues to be the fuel of choice even so.

Like most other used car markets, Kolkata continues to be driven mostly by petrol thanks to its easy availability as a fuel and lower maintenance costs for petrol cars. That said, second hand diesel vehicles continue to retain a notable share among the used cars in Kolkata.