Diesel cars to cost more

Discussion in 'International Automotive Scene' started by Dhillon, Oct 3, 2015.

  1. Dhillon

    Dhillon Administrator Staff Member

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    When India moves to Euro 5 and Euro 6 emission norms in the next two to eight years, the compact diesel car and SUV could well become the biggest casualty.

    According to auto industry sources, the move from Bharat Stage 4 or Euro 4 to Euro 5 and beyond will require significant investment in technologies like Diesel Particle Filter (DPF) and Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) which will increase the cost of a small diesel car/SUV by Rs 65,000-1 lakh. Petrol engines on the other hand will require simpler technology tweaks and will only see a markup of Rs 7000-11,000 max.

    Because of the sophistication of the technology involved, small diesel vehicles will become "prohibitively" expensive when they are Euro 6-compliant, say sources.

    Currently, diesel engines require a catalytic converter to be BS4-compliant. To move to BS5 will require both engine calibration as well as installation of the DPF. To move to BS6 will require more engine calibration as well as DPF and SCR. At each level, the cost will go up by Rs 30,000-50,000 for the end customer. In comparison, the gasoline engine will simply require ECU changes for both emission levels, hence the markup will be in the region of Rs 3000-6000 for each level.

    Said the technical head of a car maker: "Engine modifications and added technologies will mean small diesels will become too costly once Euro 6 norms kick in. In fact, entry-level diesel vehicles have come down sharply in Europe too after Euro 6 was introduced."

    Agreed Kumar Kandaswami, senior director - Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India: "If you add the cost of mandatory safety features to the cost of migration to the new emission regime, it's clear that the entire mini segment will come under a lot of price pressure leading to a significant migration of first time buyers to used cars from entry level small cars."

    Understandably automobile manufacturers are pressing the government for more time to get their resource plans and strategies in place. While BS4 norms will go national from 2017 onwards, the BS 5 & 6 time frames are still under negotiation.

    The auto fuel policy committee had suggested 2020 and 2024 for migration to Euro 5 and Euro 6 but the government is pushing for a more immediate deadline.

    The automobile industry for its part is lobbying for 2019 and 2023 as the mandated time frame. Its contention is that it needs time to prepare for the resources and market strategies that the new norms will demand. Said N Raja, director and senior vice president (sales & marketing), Toyota Kirloskar Motor: "The only request to the Government of India, as manufacturers of automobiles we have is that this process should have a well-defined long-term declared road map which allows manufacturers to plan their resources."
     
  2. autodrome

    autodrome New Member

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    Diesel Cars are generally priced more than the cost of a petrol car. For knowing the reason we first need to have some understanding of the way a diesel engine functions.

    A diesel engine is also known as a CI (Compression Ignition) engine. As the name suggests the fuel in diesel engine is ignited in the combustion chamber by compressing the air fuel mixture as compared to a spark ignition in a petrol engine which makes the use of spark plugs.
    Since diesel fuel has a higher compression ratio so the piston compresses the gases inside it to a much higher pressure and temperature as compared to a SI (Spark Ignition) engine i.e Petrol engine.
     

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