Ertiga CNG - most value for money 7-seater

We were looking for a comfortable 7-seater car which could accommodate our family members for those long journeys as well as for my daily commute to office. My wish list was very ambitious which had Toyota Innova 2.4, Mahindra XUV500 W9 and the Tata Hexa XTA. All these cars have their own distinct character, but I was more inclined towards the Innova for it's best cost of ownership. Before finalizing, I had done my calculations to check the value proposition ratio in terms of Rupee per kilometer considering an average monthly usage of 1000 kms. All the wishlisted cars were in the price range of INR 20-25 Lakhs due to which the ratio was very high. Also to mention that all cars were diesel powered, which meant that my monthly average usage should have been 5000 kms or more to be able to justify the 'premium' payable for diesel cars over petrol powered ones. Here's when I seriously looked upon at such a car which is known to give approximately 80% of what Innova provides at less than 50% of Innova's price! That's how I finalized the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga VXI Green! The first major point after buying a CNG car is that your boot space is completely gone. Even though, I would say that the Ertiga VXI Green is the most practical 7-seater car to buy in India if you have 5 adults and 2 kids in the family traveller. At INR 9.5 lakhs this was the best purchase which I did, Apart from the car being looked at as a mini Innova, the Ertiga is capable of doing long hauls while also making city driving a breeze. The performance is smooth, but you feel a lack of power at higher gears while driving in CNG mode. I have driven the car for 4,500 kms till now in last 6 months and the CNG average is between 17-24 kms per kg of CNG which is quite impressive for a car of this size. Other fine points - cabin is well insulated, aircon is superb, gear shifts are slick, audio and calling controls on the steering wheel are great. There are a lot of storage cubbies inside the cabin. Mobile charging sockets are available in front and middle rows. The best part of the seating configuration is that the middle row is adjustable. Maruti should have provided lumbar support adjustment for the front row, the experience would have been even better. Overall a great 7-seater family car at this price point, but if you have a higher monthly usage of more than 5,000 kms, and if you have a fully loaded wallet, the Innova would be the best to own.