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New RDE Norms May Kill These Cars In India – Check Out All The Details
The Indian automobile sector is taking another giant leap in April 2023 after the implementation of new Real Driving Emissions (RDE) norms in the country.
However, the new RDE norms are a lot more stringent and automotive companies will have to spend a lot of money to make their current cars compatible with the new norms.
That being said, companies can save this money by understanding the feasibility of each model and axing models that are not profitable for the company. Moreover, it is also worth mentioning that diesel engines are most difficult to upgrade to the latest RDE norms. This means, more diesel cars are likely to be axed by car manufacturers before the introduction of new RDE norms.
Diving into details, diesel variants of models such as Hyundai i20, 5th-gen Honda City, Honda Amaze, Hyundai Verna, Honda WR-V, Tata Altroz, Mahindra Marazzo, and Mahindra Alturas G4 are likely to be discontinued as upgrading these vehicles to new RDE norms will incur losses to the respective companies.
However, it is not only the diesel cars that are likely to get axed before the implementation of new RDE norms. In fact, some petrol-powered cars are also likely to get axed by the respective car manufacturers to stop incurring losses post the upgrade. These vehicles include the likes of the Mahindra KUV100, Skoda Octavia, Toyota Innova Crysta, Skoda Superb, Nissan Kicks, Renault Kwid and Maruti Suzuki Alto 800.
While it might be surprising to see the Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 on the list, we think that the entry-level hatchback is likely to be axed as it is the only model in the Indo-Japanese automaker's lineup to use the 0.8-litre, naturally-aspirated engine. This means investing in this powertrain to comply with new RDE norms will not be feasible enough for the automaker.
Speaking about RDE, these latest emission norms require emission testing that is representative of the real-world usage of the cars. This is a lot more challenging for car manufacturers as the end emission is affected by various parameters such as road conditions, altitude, ambient temperature, and many more.
The decision to stop the production of diesel engines is mainly due to the investment costs that are needed to develop diesel engines to cope with the upcoming stringent RDE norms in India. So, it is more feasible from an investment point of view to axing the diesel engines instead of developing them to comply with the upcoming RDE norms.
Thoughts About The RDE Norms In India
For most car manufacturers, the decision to stop the production of diesel variants is mainly due to the investment costs that are needed to develop diesel engines that cope with the upcoming stringent RDE norms. That being said, these upcoming new RDE norms in India will be implemented from April 2023 onwards and we expect a sharp drop in the resale value of old diesel cars.
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