Indian Diesel Cars Fight For Survival!!

[Akash1886]

Friends,

The title might sound to be hilarious but honestly with the Govt. and Authorities becoming stricter each day and passing regulations which do not favor the diesel cars in India be it banning a specific engine capacity or increasing taxes on diesel cars et al, the biggest dent is being made on the prospective buyer's confidence and also this is hampering the automotive industry of India at large too. Fresh Investments are being at large held back by many foreign automotive brands and to comply with the regulations of govt. the brands are having a indeed very tough time. Above that, with the fear of being phased out completely, many popular mass-market diesel cars which earlier were the 1st choice of buyers have now become almost the last choice. Knowing the pros of a diesel car and all the economic factors considered, yet the buyer has to give up on buying a diesel car fearing the rulings and the uncertainty of rules being extended to other Indian states as well. The sales have also begun to show a rather marginal shift but with the current circumstances, this marginal shift can become more sharp. So, based on the above gloomy picture about fate of diesel cars in India, do you think, irrespective of their engine capacity, will the diesel cars in India become totally extinct? Is banning of 2000 cc diesel cars which has led to fall in customer confidence for other diesel cars as well, a viable move by our authorities? Please share your opinions!

 

[a4arun]

Completely agree with you. It simply does not.make any sense to ban diesel engine of capacity more than 2000 cc without any solid evidence that vehicles with these engines are the major contributor to pollution. What this ban has managed to achieve is only unrest in the minds of auto makers and in the minds of prospective buyers and also who own one currently. I think this will only jeopardise the investments these companies have made in India and they will be apprehensive of making further investments depriving the people of India from benefitting from the technically more advanced engineering. If such a situation persists, then we can expect many of them closing shops as India will no be as attractive as it is today. Hope sanity prevails.

 

[navnit013]

I think we are going overboard with this.

Lets for one second believe that diesel cars above 2000cc is more polluting (). Now compared to petrol car of the same capacity, is it so? If we calculate the emissions per km, then its obvious diesels are better/cleaner. Why ban cars for your inability to free up the roads and keep the traffic moving? BTW its the NGT not Govt. Govt is opposed to such illogical bans.

If you ban 2000cc diesels, manufacturers will introduce low capacity diesels. That will be more polluting per km comparatively. ie low power/torque pulling the same weight. . My Sumo with 2200cc engine returns 16kmpl with AC on at 100 kmph pulling a 2 tons on the highway. But my indica with 1300cc engine returns only 13kmpl at those speeds with only 1.5 toms weight. Now which one is more clean? 1300cc engine or 2200cc engine?

Also, how clean is our fuels? Is our refineries upto the standards. Unless we have latest fuels, how are we going to reduce emissions?

Yes we should have strict emission norms and we should have strict enforcement. Not allow manufacturers to get away with, we are clean in India statements. We should upgrade our aging refineries and control adulteration of fuel. BUT ban based on engine capacity is as absurd as it gets.

 

[gauthamns]

For me, banning 10 years old diesel is a big concern. I do not want to change my vehicle every 10 years and the resale value goes down drastically. Life of a vehicle is more than 10 years (15 for petrols) and restricting them is going to hit the middle class planning to own a car hard.

I understand the concern for environment. But why are diesels owned by common man are singled out without any proof and without any alternative plan? (no scrape policy, no tax write down). Also, is there a proof that 10 year old diesels which are maintained well are more polluting? Or put it plainly, is there a scientific proof that age of the car determines how much it pollutes? What is more concerning is Supreme court acting with such haste. Supreme court is supposed to be the final authority which hears everyone and gives judgement based on laws and not gut feel

 

[vikyjoshi]

I dont know how come NGT has become active all of a sudden? Now that Govt is opposing this illogical ban implies NGT is not under govt. control.

So the question why now so suddenly and so quickly the bans are being reinforced which was never heard off all these years ago? more so these bans being so very illogical? Is there any curb on the age of the public transport vehicles? Auto rickshaws, dilapilated taxis? And why targetting only diesel vehicles why not petrol vehicles? petrol too pollute.
All this i feel is, not in interest of the nation or climate, it is kind of a some one having vested interest in promoting petrol vehicles or is against the OEM manufacturing diesel vehicles.

 

[generalmax]

To address pollution concerns in the long term, India will have to go back to and adopt diesel technology, German luxury car maker Mercedes Benz said on Thursday.

The Supreme Court banned registration of new diesel vehicles in the National Capital Region ( NCR ) in December last year and the National Green Tribunal is hearing a petition to take similar action in 11 major metropolitan cities.

"Long-term we have to go back to diesel to address pollution concerns. At the BS VI level particulate emissions for both petrol and diesel are similar. But CO2 emission in petrol is higher. Given the commitments India has made in Paris, diesel technology is the way forward ," said Roland Folger , managing director, Mercedes Benz India Limited (MBIL). Upgradation to higher emission norms would allay concerns over environment faster, he added.

Read more at:
Diesel tech is way forward: Mercedes Benz India MD - The Economic Times

 

[blackpearlvkd]

As much I have observed in the Market, its not the diesel or petrol vehicle, but its less maintained vehicle which is polluting our environment.
I have seen many cars, trucks and buses pumping black smoke, and it is so much thick black that you can't even see beyond that smoke until you cross it. some times it seems its not wheel but the pressure of smoke pushing that vehicle forward. those kinds of vehicle should be banned not a well maintained vehicles.
But here again a BIG term called CORRUPTION plays a major role.
the vehicle giving so much black smoke either belongs to a person known to a politician or transport company and transport company, and we all know what happens after that.

what I believe is, RTO should a take a step against vehicles producing more pollution.
why always a common man suffers? even after maintaining our vehicle very well.

In MP (Madhya Pradesh) they have given around 1000 TATA safari Storm (Diesel) vehicle to police dept. I don't believe banning diesel vehicle will stop the problem.

 

[pawan9977]

NGT is trying a most comedic attempt ever! Literally there are about a lakh(might be more) above 2000cc all over India in the showrooms waiting for some buyers to pick.

How can a farmer invest more than 10L once every 10years to buy a vehicle that does all his duty. Most funny part of this millennium!

 

[blackpearlvkd]

NGT is trying a most comedic attempt ever! Literally there are about a lakh(might be more) above 2000cc all over India in the showrooms waiting for some buyers to pick.

How can a farmer invest more than 10L once every 10years to buy a vehicle that does all his duty. Most funny part of this millennium!

Yes I agree, all the vehicles related with agriculture as powered by diesel,
already farmers are committing suicide due to high expenses in farming and getting only 1-2% profit, all the profit is collected by businessmen, Govt should first look after farmer's situation, after that show your concern about other problems.

 

[eigenvalue]

I think we are going overboard with this.

My Sumo with 2200cc engine returns 16kmpl with AC on at 100 kmph pulling a 2 tons on the highway. But my indica with 1300cc engine returns only 13kmpl at those speeds with only 1.5 toms weight. Now which one is more clean? 1300cc engine or 2200cc engine?

Yes we should have strict emission norms and we should have strict enforcement. Not allow manufacturers to get away with, we are clean in India statements. We should upgrade our aging refineries and control adulteration of fuel. BUT ban based on engine capacity is as absurd as it gets.

Here comes the icing on the cake European car emission tests force car makers to upgrade to bigger engines since they can't meet the current set emission standards from their downsized engines. The gist is smaller engines with more load pollutes more than a bigger engine with the same load condition (in unison with your sumo, indica statement meant).
Example Toyota prius vs BMW M3

The ultimate beneficiary of this rule is the car manufacturer how? simple India becomes their discharge market for those small sized diesel engines which can't be marketed in the future in EU. Government policies on any sector should be broad minded and should encompass sustained growth without affecting the environment. Don't know how the learned 'savants' in the Indian bureaucracy let it happen. India needs an independent body of automobile experts to recommend the government the policy it should adhere for the betterment of Indian economy, environment and the average car buyer not some precooked crook's underdone selfish ideas as its policy.

 

[Brian]

In a word, this is senseless. People want space. Space necessitates a bigger profile which means more weight. More weight requires more power but they won't allow higher displacement engines which deliver that power with much less strain than their smaller counterparts. Seriously, where is this country going?
Adding to that mockery, I saw a snippet of 'The Hindu' wherein the Tata-owned JLR made a statement that Delhi air is dirtier than what their cars produce
If these law-enforcers have at least something inside their heads, they'll realise that most of the pollution comes from on-the-deathbed government buses. Scrap them all, put some effort into commissioning new vehicles and see how much the pollution reduces! (Sadly this isn't gonna happen any time soon in such a selfish and corrupt country)
P.S: I don't hate our country. I'm just sad to see its pathetic state