India will get the new emission standards from 1st April 2020. The more stringent BS6 norms will affect a wide range of vehicles in the Indian market and India’s biggest car manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki has already announced that they will discontinue all their diesel-powered products when the new emission norms come into effect. All other major manufacturers like Tata, Honda, Hyundai have announced their intentions to launch the diesel-powered vehicles even after the implementation of the BS6 norms. Now, Toyota, the segment-leading manufacturer with the Innova Crysta and Fortuner has now announced that they will continue to offer the new BS6 compliant vehicles even after the implementation of the new norms.
Shekar Vishwanathan, Vice-Chairman, PTI said to PTI that they still a great demand for the diesel-powered vehicles in the Indian market, which is why the diesel-powered vehicles from the brand will continue to be available in the market. Toyota has recently put in an investment in its Indian plant, which will be used to manufacture the new compliant diesel engines in the market.
Toyota’s Innova Crysta and the Fortuner have a huge presence in the market and both of them outsell their competitors by a huge margin. The current diesel-petrol ratio from January to July 2019 stands at 82:18, which is a massive difference. However, as per the manufacturer, when it comes to the private car buyers, the ratio of the diesel-petrol vehicles sold by the manufacturer is almost 50:50. It should be noted that the Toyota Innova Crysta is the most preferred vehicle by the taxi fleet owners. The unmatched comfort and the vehicle’s reliability ensures that the customers remain attracted to the MPV.
It should be noted that a few manufacturers have already launched the BS6 compliant vehicles in the Indian market. However, there is no mass segment diesel car, which is BS6 compliant yet. Upgrading the petrol vehicles from BS4 to BS6 is not a big task and does not affect the price as much. However, when it comes to the diesel engines, a huge cost is involved when it comes to the development of the BS6 compliant engines. The development cost of the diesel engines will increase the overall price of the vehicle. This is the primary reason why Maruti Suzuki is staying away from the diesel-powered vehicles in the Indian market when the new emission norms set in next year.
After the BS6 implementation on 1st April 2020, most manufacturers will discontinue the smaller diesel engines. Also, it should be noted that the price difference between diesel and petrol cars will widen by a lot after the implementation of the BS6 norms in the Indian market. Earlier, Toyota’s Deputy Managing Director, N Raja said that the diesel-powered Innova Crysta and Fortuner could cost up to Rs 4.5 lakh more expensive than the BS4 version.
