Delhi Diesel Ban: The After Effects On Automakers

It’s been quite some time since passenger vehicles with more than 2000cc diesel engines have been banned in the Delhi-NCR region. This is a decision that has been criticised widely for being too dictatorial and illogical. It’s simply because no prior tests were undertaken to check whether the vehicles falling under probation were actually more polluting than the ones falling under the 2000cc threshold or not. 

Most of the manufacturers falling prey to this have been luxury car companies, however, a fair share of volume churners are also falling under the probation. Manufacturers like Tata, Mahindra and Toyota have suffered from the ban too. 

Since the decision stays put automakers had to comply with it, despite all the agitation it has created for them. So, to get around the ban many have taken recourse to petrol motors, while a few have or are developing downsized diesel engines. Let’s see how different manufacturers have tried to evade the ban.

Mahindra and Mahindra: Promptly acting on the Supreme Court’s decision Mahindra announced and subsequently launched the downsized version of its 2.2-litre diesel motor. The 1.99-litre motor now powers the XUV500 and the Scorpio in the NCR-region. The motor retains it power, torque, and mileage figures from the 2.2-litre one. However, currently, there’s no data available to prove that the 1.99-litre motor is producing fewer pollutants that the 2.2-litre one.

Tata: The home grown manufacturer has sustained a big blow to its flagship SUV, the Safari. However, just like Mahindra, Tata is also expected to produce a downsized motor, which could make it to its cars in the near future.

Mercedes-Benz: Unlike BMW and Audi, both of which has a sub-2000cc motor in their kitty, Merc uses a 2.1-litre motor making a large chunk of its cars unavailable for the customers of Delhi-NCR. Mercedes is developing a sub-2000cc motor, but it is expected to be introduced in European countries first and could only make it to India in 2017. Till then, the German car giant has to manage with the petrol versions of its cars.

Audi and BMW: While the lower end of Audi and BMW’s lineups are powered by sub-2000cc diesel motors, their higher end isn’t. For this reason, both the automakers may introduce petrol motors to few of their high-end cars like the Q7 or the X5. Notably, BMW did introduce the petrol version of 3 Series and 5 Series, both of which are powered by sub-2000cc diesel motors. BMW explained that this decision was taken because of the insecurities that have risen among buyers after the ban.

Jaguar and Land Rover: Just like Mercedes, JLR has also suffered badly because of its diesel engine that lies a few ‘cc-es’ above the 2000cc mark. They had made some agitated comments in the past against the ban though they too seem to accept the realities of the ban, and have introduced the petrol versions in many of their cars. The most recent example is the introduction of the 2.0-litre petrol motor in the Discovery Sport.

Porsche: The German sports car manufacturer introduced a sub-2000cc diesel motor with its SUV Macan. The Macan’s previous 3.0-litre diesel engine restricted its sale in the region. 

Toyota: The Japanese car giant could easily be the one which has suffered the most from the diesel ban. A report suggested that the manufacturer has lost as much as 7 per cent of sales of its popular cars Innova and the Fortuner. The company even has doubts regarding the launch of its new vehicles in the country. Toyota is considering introducing a petrol motor with the Innova Crysta in an attempt to make the vehicle available to its customers in the Delhi-NCR.

The Delhi diesel ban seems like a mere beginning as the Kerala High Court recently took a similar action on cars using more than 2000cc engines. In addition, there are rumours that the ban could extend to more Indian metropolises in the coming years. We just hope that the diesel ban doesn't bring any compromises to Indian customers and they always get the best that automakers has to offer.