The Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) expressed its disappointment over Supreme Court’s decision to ban diesel SUVs as well as cars with engines of 2,000cc and above in the National Capital Region. JLR argued that the ban is not justified technologically, stating that diesel engines in many respects are better than their petrol counterparts.
I am an engineer and I am very disappointed with the ban. I don’t understand the rationale behind the ban. All our models are Euro-VI complaint and these vehicles clean the air, and the air they suck in is far dirtier than which comes out of it. I do not understand the point behind banning these kinds of vehicles.Ralf Speth, Jaguar Land Rover Chief Executive
The company today launched two petrol variants of the Jaguar XE at Delhi Auto Expo 2016.
If we are looking at the environment, there are many more effective ways to handle the issue such as phasing out all old vehicles and controlling other sources of pollution. To overcome the ban, JLR is looking at bringing in more petrol variants of its models.Rohit Suri, President, JLR India
When asked about the impact of the slowdown in China, Speth said 2015 was a very difficult year for the company in the world’s largest auto market. Confounding the problem was the heavy losses it had suffered due to the blast at the Tianjin port.
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