Delhi Diesel Ban Trouble Continues As Audi May Lose Over 700 Crore Business This Year

The Delhi Diesel Ban did take a toll on carmakers and luxury carmakers took the most beating, since 90 percent of their diesel engines are over 2,000cc. Although the ban has now been lifted, customers have already shifted their preference towards petrol engines.

Now, Audi, the German carmaker has announced that it will launch petrol engines across its range, by the first quarter of next year. Fellow German rival Mercedes-benz has also announced the same, but is introducing them by September itself.

Also, Audi estimates that the company will undergo a loss of almost Rs. 750 crore due to the ban on diesel vehicles that lasted for almost 9 months. Speaking about the issue, Joe King, the Head of Audi India said, "This year has been a very difficult one as customers are confused due to the issues such as ban of diesel in Delhi-NCR and different excise duties imposed on those vehicles."

"They had postponed purchases. It has been a real challenge changing our business strategy overnight from a predominantly diesel to petrol due to an out of the blue decision by the NGT and the Supreme Court."

"Now there is a significant shift in demand for petrol vehicles. So we will ensure that all our models sold in India will have both petrol and diesel options by the first quarter of next year."