Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) is planning to continue to sell diesel models in the country even as prices of such vehicles are expected to go up significantly with the upcoming BS-VI emission norms from April 1 next year, a top company official has said.
“We still see demand for diesel variants, and will continue to manufacture them till we have the future technology setting in,” TKM Vice-Chairman Shekar Viswanathan told PTI.
The company has even invested in a plant in India to make diesel engines which is capable of manufacturing diesel BS-VI engines with minimum investment, he added.
This was done keeping in mind the ‘Make in India’ philosophy, Viswanathan said.
TKM sells popular models such as Innova Crysta and Fortuner in the country and based on its total vehicle sales from January to July 2019, the current diesel-petrol ratio is 82:18.
However, considering only the passenger car segment, the petrol-diesel ratio is close to 50:50.
With diesel cars set to become costlier from next year with the implementation of stricter BS-VI emission norms, major automakers are contemplating about the future of such vehicles in their portfolios.
Market leader Maruti Suzuki India has already announced phasing out of diesel cars from its portfolio with effect from next year.
Similarly, Tata Motors is also contemplating phasing out small diesel cars.
The company, which is a joint venture between the Japanese auto major and Kirloskar group, said it has the technologies in place for various kind of electric vehicles (EV) which it can introduce depending upon the market requirements.