Honda Will Continue to Sell Diesel Cars

Like Ford, Japanese auto major Honda will continue to offer diesel models in India even after BS-VI emission norms kick in, unlike Maruti Suzuki which has decided to stop selling diesel cars from April 1, 2020. The company plans to upgrade its two diesel engines, which power models like Amaze, City, WR-V, BR-V, Civic and CR-V to conform to stricter BS-VI emission norms, HCIL Senior VP and Director (Marketing & Sales) Rajesh Goel said. The auto major to start rolling out models with upgraded BS-VI engines in both petrol and diesel from the fourth quarter of this fiscal.

“From our experience, for the fuel choice among petrol or diesel, 80 pc of customers make a rational choice based on 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.

The company will take care of these 20 pc emotional choice buyers as well, he added. Goel acknowledged that fuel dynamics will change after BS-VI implementation from the next year with a price gap increasing between petrol and diesel models. “But we believe the 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,” he said. Maruti Suzuki India has stated that it would discontinue diesel models from 1 April 2020. So would Tata Motors.