Even as other automakers such as Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors have recently announced their plans to exit the diesel car segment when the Bharat Stage-VI emission norms kick in next year, Japanese auto major Honda Cars India (HCIL) said it will continue to offer diesel models in India.
“We believe demand for diesel will not vanish immediately.
Therefore, we will continue to offer the diesel models in line with market demand and gradually move towards future alternatives,” said Rajesh Goel, senior vice-president and director (marketing and sales).
“A smooth run-out of BS-IV vehicles and switchover to BS-VI vehicles will be a key task during this financial year. HCIL will progressively introduce BS-VI compliant models from fourth quarter of this fiscal,” he said.
The BS-VI emission norm would come into force from April 1, 2020, across the country. Currently, the vehicles sold in India conform to BS-IV emission standards.
HCIL currently sells Amaze, WR-V, City and BR-V with 1.5-litre diesel engine, while Civic and CR-V are powered by 1.6 litre diesel power-train. The models are also available with petrol engine options.
The company feels that while 80 per cent of the users may go with mileage and the kind of fuel used, the rest 20 per cent will still stick to diesel models.
“From our experience… for the choice of fuel between petrol and diesel… 80 per cent of customers make a rational choice, based on the consideration of driving distance and recovery period. However, there are still 20 per cent customers who make an emotional choice towards a particular fuel,” Goel said.
And that is the reason why rather than junking the diesel model, HCIL is planning to roll out models with upgraded BS-VI engines in both petrol and diesel from the January-March quarter of this financial year.
The company plans to upgrade its two diesel engines to power models like Amaze, City, WR-V, BR-V, Civic and CR-V, to conform to the stricter BS-VI emission norms.
With diesel cars set to become costlier after the implementation of stricter BS-IV emission norms, major automakers are contemplating the future of such vehicles in their portfolios. Earlier this month, market leader Maruti Suzuki India had announced that it would discontinue its small and mid-sized diesel models from April 1, 2020. It expects that the increased cost would put diesel cars, especially smaller ones, out of reach of small car-buyers.
Tata Motors too had hinted about phasing out of small diesel cars from its portfolio as demand is expected to slow down due to the new norms. On the other hand, Ford has said that it will continue to sell diesel models in the country.