Click it and Unblock the Notifications
Less Demand For Diesel Cars
Diesel cars also attracted customer because of the "alluring" differential between the diesel and petrol variants. But, as lowering of the pricing gap could blunt this attraction pushing the deal favourably towards petrol fueled cars whcih are also 10-15% cheaper than diesel variants. For example, small petrol cars (800 - 1200 cc engines) are sold almost double fold owing to the cheaper initial cost, while the cost of a 1.2 L diesel car is as high as 4 lakh rupees.
According to GM India's VP, if the diesel prices rise steadily, people will end up buying petrol driven cars more than diesel cars. Maruti Suzuki's Managing Executive Officer (Marketing and Sales) Mayank Pareek, mentioned that, certainly, the price differential is the prime mover for diesel. So there would be some impact if its price goes up further. However, the improved technology on diesel engines is also among factors pushing sales. This is clear from the factor that Maruti's own Swift hatchback has almost equal percentage of demand for the diesel variant when compared to petrol variant.
Technologies like DICOR and TDI implemented in Diesel engines reduces the maintenance and provides good pickup, power as well as mileage. Emissions are also made matching the country's norms. According to Ford's Executive Director (Marketing and Sales) Nigel Wark, there are people who like the driving characteristics of diesel engine and there might be some impact on the bottom end of the market, but considering the long term, there won't be any dramatic shift.
Continue with Google