In 2026, a consumer court in India made a landmark ruling, mandating that India’s largest automaker, Maruti Suzuki, supply a brand-new Grand Vitara SUV to a car owner or alternatively compensate them with 2 million Indian rupees. This decision was based on the premise that the mandatory promotion of E20 ethanol-gasoline had caused damage to the owner’s vehicle. The plaintiff, the car owner, asserted that the vehicle sustained damage after being refueled with E20 fuel. The court decreed that Maruti must either replace the vehicle with a new one or provide compensation within 45 days. Maruti refuted the claims, attributing the issue to contaminated fuel, but the court did not uphold this argument. Maruti announced its intention to appeal and underscored that the vehicle in question was fully compatible with E20 fuel. E20 fuel represents a policy extensively advocated by the Indian government since the previous year, with the objective of diminishing reliance on crude oil imports and curbing emissions. Nevertheless, critics have contended that the promotion has been overly hasty, lacking the provision of alternative fuel options. This verdict may incite a surge of similar lawsuits from consumers, posing challenges for automakers.