From April 2020, Maruti Suzuki will not sell diesel cars
India's biggest automaker Maruti Suzuki has announced that it won't be manufacturing diesel cars, starting from April 1, 2020. The move, according to a Livemint report, comes as a response to the upcoming BS VI emission norms that would require the company to upgrade existing diesel engines and bear high costs. Here are the details.
Diesel cars to be phased out
In April 2020, the Indian government will introduce stricter Bharat Stage VI emission standards to curb pollution in the country. As part of these regulations, all automakers would be required to invest in their vehicles, making them cleaner with advanced technologies, engines. Now, this would drastically increase the cost for Maruti Suzuki, which is why the company has resorted to phasing-out diesel cars altogether.
Focus will be on CNG and hybrids
Speaking to Mint, R C Bhargava, the chairman of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, said the move has been taken because the high upgrading cost of diesel vehicles would have made the vehicles very expensive and non-viable for Indian consumers. Notably, as the diesel cars are phased out, the company will fill the gap by doubling down on CNG, petrol, hybrids, and electric vehicles.
Here's what Bhargava said while announcing the move
"We've taken this decision so that in 2022 we are able to meet Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency norms and higher share of CNG vehicles will help us comply with the norms. I hope the union government's policies will help grow the market for CNG vehicles".
Meanwhile, Suzuki will unveil its first electric car next year
As for future plans, it's worth noting that Maruti Suzuki will be launching its first electric car next year. The timeline for the launch is not exactly clear but Overdrive reports that the vehicle would cost somewhere Rs. 9-11 lakh in the Indian market. To note, the Japanese giant has already partnered with Toyota to procure hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) technologies for cleaner vehicles.
Separately, Maruti Suzuki's net profit has declined
The huge announcement from Bhargava came after the company reported its results for financial year 2019 (April 2018-March 2019). The company reported a net profit of Rs. 1,795.6 crore, which is 4.6% lower than that reported for the previous year. Meanwhile, its total sales increased by a meager 0.4% (YoY) to 4,28,863 units and net sales dropped by 0.7% to Rs. 20,737.5 crore.
