The upcoming Bharat Stage 6 (BS-VI) emission norms has meant that a number of car makers are pulling models off the market as they don’t see them being viable to sell once the new regime comes in.
A number of car makers have discontinued their diesel models completely because the cost of upgrading the existing BS-IV emission-norms compliant cars to BS-VI was just not worth it. Plus, the sticker prices of these cars would have made them far more expensive to buy.
Maruti and Volkswagen, for instance, have completely done away with diesel models altogether, while manufacturers like Tata and Mahindra have removed them from their smaller cars.
Here’s a look at some of the cars that you won’t be able to buy after 1 April 2020.
All Diesel Maruti Cars
Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest carmaker, has announced it is getting out of the diesel market for now. The company did hint though that it may bring out a 1.5-litre diesel engine for certain models if it sees enough demand for it. It has discontinued the 1.3-litre multi-jet diesel it sourced from Fiat that powered most of its cars.
The Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza is now available only with a 1.5 litre petrol engine. The Maruti Suzuki S-Cross, which also came with a 1.3-litre diesel engine will now get the 1.5-litre petrol. The Swift and Dzire will only be available as petrol or CNG variants now.
All Volkswagen Diesel Cars
Volkswagen is being extra cautious after having been fined millions of dollars after the “Dieselgate” emissions scandal. The company isn’t updating its diesel engines to meet BS-VI emission norms. Instead, it is pulling all its diesel cars off the market.
All its new cars – sedans or SUVs – will come only with BS-VI compliant petrol motors now. It has introduced new 1-litre turbo-petrols for the Vento and 1-litre naturally aspirated petrol motors for the Polo. Its new Tiguan AllSpace SUV comes with a 2-litre petrol engine.
The Volkswagen Ameo compact sedan is being discontinued.
Renault Duster AWD & Renault Lodgy
Those looking for the punchy, go-anywhere all-wheel drive Renault Duster, you have only a few days to pick it up until stocks last. The Renault Duster all-wheel drive with the 1.5-litre diesel engine is being discontinued due to “lack of demand”. All-wheel drive variants accounted for less than 5 percent of Duster sales. Instead, the Duster will be available with a 1.5-litre petrol engine only.
The Renault Lodgy MPV, which has not been able to sell well, competing with the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga and Honda BR-V is being discontinued. Renault will instead focus on selling the Kwid, Triber and Duster primarily. It also has the Renault Captur in its portfolio. All are petrol-only models now.
Toyota Etios & Etios Liva
Toyota has pulled the Etios sedan and Etios Liva hatchback off the market. These cars came in both petrol and diesel models, but Toyota doesn’t see them as viable models to continue in India.
Instead Toyota is also taking a petrol-only approach and will sell the rebadged Maruti Suzuki Baleno as the Glanza, which is its entry-level hatchback. It will soon do the same with the Maruti Suzuki XL6 and also the Vitara Brezza, under an agreement with Suzuki.
Tata Safari Storme, Tata Hexa
Tata Motors is revamping its model line up in SUVs. It will soon be introducing the Tata Harrier automatic, followed by the seven-seat model based on the Harrier, the Tata Gravitas.
The Tata Safari Storme is being discontinued and will not be updated to BS-VI emission norms. It comes with a 2.2-litre diesel engine currently. The Tata Hexa also will be discontinued temporarily, but it will be back soon with an engine update. It’s likely that Tata will replace the 2.2-litre Varicor diesel engine in the Hexa with the 2-litre diesel (sourced from Fiat) that it uses in the Harrier and Gravitas.
The Tata Hexa will also be the only model available from Tata with a 4x4 (all-wheel drive) system as an option.
Tata Zest & Tata Bolt
The Tata Zest and Tata Bolt will also be discontinued, as Tata is replacing that entire platform. For Tata it doesn’t make business sense to sell the Tata Tiago and Tata Bolt in the same market and likewise for the Tata Zest and Tata Tigor.
Tata is focussing on its Impact 2.0 design-language cars, which will also mean the Tigor and Tiago will get a facelift, but will get only petrol motors. The Tata Altroz will be sold with both a petrol and diesel motor, as well as an electric model. The upcoming Tata HBX (compact SUV) will also likely get the same engine options.
All Fiat Cars
Fiat hasn’t had a good run of late in the market, despite having some fun-to-drive cars in its portfolio. The Fiat Punto, Punto Abarth, Avventura and Fiat Linea are being pulled off the market, according to reports.
Instead, parent company Fiat-Chrysler Automotive (FCA) will focus its efforts on the Jeep brand in India. Fiat used to supply its 1.3-litre multijet engine to Tata, Maruti, General Motors and Premier, but that engine cannot be updated to BS-VI norms. Hence, it will only supply the 2-litre diesel motor to Tata and MG.
Other companies like Mahindra are taking diesel engines out of their smaller cars like the KUV100. Nissan also will sell petrol-only models of the Micra and Sunny. Nissan will discontinue the diesel model of the Kicks and sell only its petrol variant from April onwards.
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