The Supreme Court banning the vehicles with Diesel engines beyond 2000cc has had a very harsh effect on the automobile sale in Delhi NCR. Badly hit by the decision the automobile companies try to find a way out of this legal barrier. Thus, Tata Motors, which has been worse hit by the ban plans to re- engineer and downsize its diesel engine to remain in the league and skirt the ban issue.
In December 2015, the Supreme Court banned sales of vehicles with diesel engines of more than 2,000cc till March 31 over rising pollution levels in the Capital. This was further extended by a month.
"We are re-engineering our existing engines to bring them below 2-litres," Tata Motors senior vice president for programme planning and project management, at the passenger vehicle unit, Girish Wagh, told reporters here on sidelines of the launch of its much-awaited hatchback Tiago.
A new engine takes about a year to reach the market but this being something more innovative may enter the markets much early. The plans for re-engineering is currently only for Tata motor vehicles and not for the luxury brands like Land Rover and Jaguar.
The SC banning the sale of heavy diesel vehicles in the NCR has made the utility vehicle market suffer badly. Tata Motors’ Storme and Aria that are backed with a 2.2 lt diesel engine are the major candidates that would undergo the downsizing.
The ban led the major diesel player Mahindra to work on the petrol segments and to re-design the engines of its offering like Scorpio and Bolero.
Twinkle Jain
Principal Correspondent
