Japanese automaker Honda will stick to its diesel engines in the Indian market beyond 2020. Yes, Autocar India reports that the company will introduce BS-VI diesel engines in the country.
Currently, Honda is developing the BS-VI compliant 1.5-litre i-DTEC 'Earth Dreams' diesel engine. The BS-VI emission norms will be implemented from 2020 in India.
President and CEO, Honda Cars India, Yoichiro Ueno said that the Indian market has a high demand for diesel engine and the company cannot stop catering the customers beyond 2020. Several automakers have altered their engine strategies due to the high cost of upgrading the diesel engines to BS-VI.
Upgrading the current BS-IV diesel engines to the BS-VI emission norms will involve a lot of investments. Ueno added that the BS-VI diesel engines would have a significant impact on the pricing of the diesel cars in India.
Ueno said that the BS-VI would be a big challenge for diesel engines and the upgrade of diesel engines will result in a wide gap between the price of petrol and diesel cars from 2020.
But at the same time, Honda is looking to keep the costs low and also plans to manufacture the parts of the diesel particulate filter for the BS-VI diesel engine in India. Honda has already commenced testing the BS-VI diesel engine in India. Ueno added that technology is not a problem but what is bothering Honda is the cost.
In India, the 1.5-litre -DTEC diesel engine is deployed in several models such as Amaze, City, Jazz, BR-V and the recently launched WR-V. Honda also plans to launch the CR-V SUV in India in 2018 with the new 1.6-litre Euro-6 compliant diesel engine which will be manufactured in India.
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With the strict emission norms coming into effect from 2020, several automakers are reluctant to offer BS-VI diesel engines as the cost involved in upgrading the oil burners will be very high. But Honda has stuck to its plan of upgrading the 1.5-litre diesel engine, but the pricing of new diesel models will be crucial in the price-sensitive Indian market.
