Hyundai To Not Emulate Maruti, Continue Production of Diesel Cars Post BS-VI

Earlier there were reports that the South Korean maker Hyundai will bring the Venue’e turbopetrol engine to Elite i20 and the Verna. Now close to the heels of this development, there are reports coming in that the maker will not let go of the diesel engine models in the market and will continue producing smaller cars with diesel engines in the market. The new development comes after the statement by the Chief Executive Officer of the Indian operations of the company to a leading media portal of the country. In the statement the top honcho confirmed that the brand is not going to exit the diesel market as far as smaller cars are concerned. To let you know, the brand offers diesel model on almost all its cars in the Indian market as of now, this list includes models like the Hyundai Grand i10, Hyundai Xcent, Hyundai i20 Elite and Hyundai Verna. Now there is confirmation that these cars will indeed come with diesel engines in the coming time.

There are reports that the South Korean manufacturer is working on an all-new diesel engine that will comply with the upcoming stricter BS-VI emission norms of the country. This engine is likely to be a 1.5L unit that will be found on the upcoming models of the more expensive cars of the maker. However, there is no clarity on the smaller capacity diesel engine from the company as of now as the former engine is reserved only for the higher models of the brand.

Speaking about the future plans of the brand regarding diesel engines, the CEO of Hyundai India, S.S. Kim stated,

“Hyundai Motor India will continue to bring diesel cars to India. The cars coming will meet BS-VI norms.”

This means that the second largest carmaker of India will not be taking the route that a major brand like the Maruti is taking. Maruti Suzuki has already announced their plans regarding diesel cars come April 1, 2020 when the stricter BS-VI emission norms will be enforced and now Hyundai has also made its strategy clear regarding the same. The new emission norms will see the diesel cars going expensive as the development of diesel engines that comply will involve a huge investment which would in turn push up the costs of the diesel models in the market.

Other makers like Tata Motors have also made clear that the company will stop the production of smaller capacity diesel cars after April 2020. This just could prove to be a blessing for Hyundai as the decision to continue producing diesel models is a brave move seeing that the diesel cars under BS-VI regime will be significantly expensive.