[maheshm619]

While purchasing my car during 2018, I had a strong feeling that Diesel powered cars were to become rare very soon, given the tightening emission norms. Purchased a diesel hatchback, a combo that would be extinct very soon. The fuel economy part of small diesels are already matched by brilliantly tuned petrol engines from Suzuki. If they manage to retain similar F.E in other small turbo-petrol engines, no one would miss diesel cars much.

[Bibendum90949]

Very well compiled . Diesel engines in India is surely a dying breed, thanks to stricter emission norms. Being a sucker of diesel engines, I'm pretty much mourning at their demise one by one. The few ones that may be able to keep their diesels alive would be FCA, Mahindra, Hyundai/Kia and Toyota.

Originally Posted by pqr

Threat looms over smaller 1,500 cc engine, rather than higher capacity engines, as later already uses Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) for NOx treatment. Engine with a displacement of 1,500cc or less used on monocoque chassis was made BS6 emission norms compliant by using lean-NOx-trap (LNT) technology which is a cost-effective technology because SCR technology uses much larger and expensive hardware.

An exception to this is Force Gurkha. It's 2.6 diesel mill doesn't use SCR. It has a LNT instead. It's quite surprising how Force managed to meet the norms in such a higher capacity engine without SCR treatment. Come April 2023, they may well come up with SCR on Gurkha.

On the other hand Mahindra uses SCR even for it's 1.5 diesel (Marazzo, Bolero Neo).

Originally Posted by pqr

Creta & Seltos: [/b]Price difference between diesel and petrol Creta is low, at ₹96,000 and consistent across variants and offered right automatic choice for the fully-loaded top-end variant. In comparison, Seltos price difference is higher at ₹110,000 and doesn’t offer automatic transmission on the top-end fully-loaded variant, hence diesel mix of 53% and 45% respectively among them.

Seltos do come with a diesel automatic in it's fully loaded GTX+ variant. It was introduced few months later from the launch.

[shrinz.vivek]

Very good write up. Many thanks for the journalism level analysis.

Being a die hard diesel fan, I struggled to adjust to petrols after selling my Ritz diesel. At the time of the sale, I had no clue that small diesels would would become so rare in just a couple of years. After changing two petrol cars in 4 months, finally settled for a TUV300 with a vow to drive a diesel till the fuel becomes extinct from the earth's core.

Originally Posted by sid3091

As duster awd and former ecosport diesel owner, after trying the Taigun (both 1.0 and 1.5), I can confidently say you wouldn't miss that torque one bit if you go with either of these two.

With all due to respect to individual opinions I would like to disagree. Me and my friend drive a 1.0 Taigun to work every alternate day. (60kms round trip on the Bangalore Mysore highway). Our previous drive was a Polo Diesel. After 3 months of driving, both of us felt that a small petrol turbo can never replace the fun of a small diesel turbo. These are his exact words "If there was an undo button, I would go back to my old polo right now. I just hope diesels will still be around when I sell this car after 3 years."

Originally Posted by amol4184

I feel like I have been living under the rocks. Did not realize until this thread that in 2022 Hyundai is still churning out i10 with 1.2L diesel engine. Once a staple and hot favorite this car is hardly discussed on the forum now a days. Only time i10 (that too petrol turbo) is mentioned, is when someone wants a fast fun hatch that doesn't come with VW headaches.

Until today even I had no clue about the availability of diesel Nios and Aura. I think majority of the people don't know, because, ever since the discontinuation of Etios and Dzire DDIS I have been quizzing all the taxi drivers as to which is the next best small diesel car in India. None of them have mentioned the Hyundai diesel twins. All of them said: Used Etios/Dzire

[RaghavEvoX]

That's a superb analysis.

Always thought Nexon & Altroz diesel is more preferred over the petrol variants.
This is an eye-opener.

Will be interesting how the numbers will be skewed after April 2023.

[autocratic1107]

Comprehensive analysis and well written thread. Diesels are here to stay as most of the government vehicles still run on them and they are being used extensively across other sectors like farming, generators and other basic utilities. Diesel is a diesel and one who has constantly used it can vouch for its torquey performance and fuel efficiency. Turbo Petrols are fun to drive, but mind you they are quite thirsty when driven hard. Let us see how they cope up with the emergence of EVs in the upcoming year, especially among the private transport sectors.

[FiatDiesel]

Great write up, thanks for analysis. For us, diesel is the way to go. Our all family cars are diesel, Figo first gen, Grand Punto 90 Hp, Dzire, Aura, Hector and Seltos.

All of them perform flawlessly, super efficient and are fun to drive.

Special mention is for Aura. She is 30k KMs up in last 2 years, it’s an AMT, super efficient and absolutely no issues whatsoever. We find it much better then our diesel Dzire.

Petrols cost much more per km if you take into account their efficiency. Also you compromise on torque and power.

[The Rainmaker]

Brilliant and well researched write-up! Although we are led to believe that Diesels and to some extent even petrol vehicles are polluting the environment but no one seems to question the reason "why only target vehicles?" What about the industries and the regular misuse of technology by our very own government who impose sanctions on us only to enjoy the luxuries themselves funded out of tax payers' money. The vehicles have come a long way in terms of refinement and emissions. Vehicles would be way below industries and various other setups that contribute many times more than vehicles.

Although this is slightly off topic and I might start a thread on it one day but industries pollute way more than vehicles but it's easier to Target vehicles because of obvious reasons. Also, if our government had developed quality and clean public transport systems (sanitised/cleaned every couple of hours like they do in various countries abroad, even before Covid), not everyone would be buying a separate transport for each member of the family to commute. All these things are linked together in a very interesting way. We often start reasoning on something that is given to us but we hardly question the real logic behind it.

As far I'm concerned, the automotive sector is taking a hit badly unnecessarily and it's taking its toll on our passion for cars whether it's the increase in the taxes/duties (which has doubled the prices of all cars in the last decade), increase in the fuel prices, new scrap policies etc. I mean we all work hard to earn money and our cars in perfect working condition and still able to pass the emission tests are being scrapped after 10 years (soon to be implemented in other states as well), then we're the ones suffering that loss. We're not getting paid for the balance life of the car. We lose that money we invested in that machine. That's a really sorry state of affairs in our country and I don't know if or when it will stop. That's the reason the amazing car culture we see on YouTube never caught up here and everything is politically motivated. Hobbies usually have no place in our society unless we spend huge money or struggle against all odds to fulfill it which is not usually possible for a lot of people here.

But great thought there mate. Hope we see better days again in near future. The last decade or so has been quite bad for car enthusiasts.

[sbm]

Great post @pqr and the timing couldn't be more appropriate with next phase of BS6 around the corner. I have a question for you and other fellow bhpians. With the 10yr ban on diesel cars in NCR region, do you think such a ban could be implemented countrywide in the coming decade? I think smaller states will allow diesel cars for much longer but not sure how much. This can become a crucial factor for someone planning to buy a diesel and hoping to keep it for 15yrs atleast.

[vigneshkumar31]

Beautiful analysis and excellent representations.

As someone who spends time and effort to include such 'magazine quality' graphics, I understand the toil it takes. Well done!

[simplyself]

A very good article.

Tata's 1.5 diesel, though a good engine, is very much under utilised. Also missing in product mix are Compact Sedan and a Sedan. There is no diesel Compact Sedan in any company's product line.

Tata's petrol engine designing capabilities are not that great.

Electric cars might be most cost effective transportation within cities but long distance travelling is a mirage as of now. I dare say the charging station infrastructure takes its time to be built.

[pqr]

Originally Posted by pqr

• 1186cc (3-cylinder-LNT) – with such low volume it may die even before 2023

Hyundai India finally discontinued 1186cc diesel engine.

Source:

• https://www.rushlane.com/hyundai-san...-12435788.html
• https://gaadiwaadi.com/hyundai-grand...nued-in-india/

[Torq]

Awaiting the allocation and the subsequent delivery of my Kia Sonet Diesel AT. Stumbled upon this thread during a cursory Google search on government banning/heavily regulating manufacture and sale of diesel mills. The SA mentioned briefly the same.

The long long wait times, coupled with upcoming RDE emission norms kicking in, in April 2023, made me realise, there's a real chance sub 1.5L diesels might be discontinued.

I would be forever robbed of owning the sweet 1.5L Crdi with TC AT.

[84.monsoon]

Great analysis showing a clean trend of Diesel becoming almost extinct in small to medium sized cars and UVs. However, I think they will continue to have a strong role in large SUVs and MPVs for the next decade.

According to the latest issue of Autocar, Mazda is developing a brand-new diesel engine for their CX 60 SUV. The engine is called e-Skyactive D, and is an electrically assisted 3.3 litre straight six, is completely encapsulated, which helps the engine to warm up quickly on cold starts. It is a assisted by a 48V mild hybrid system. This could be potentially be one of the last brand-new diesel engines developed for passenger cars. Mazda claims the new engine is one of the cleanest diesels out there and has more than 40% thermal efficiency. I hope engines like this may perhaps reverse the damage to the fuel's reputation after the scandals of the past few years. This is a prime candidate for car-makers such as MG and Hyundai/Kia to license in for markets such as India for their large vehicles.

https://www.autocarindia.com/auto-fe...el-cars-426300

The CX-60 Diesel large SUV has just been launched in Australia. It delivers 250HP and 550 NM of torque and does 0-100 in 7.3 seconds - easily outclassing the 2.8 Toyota engine we get in the Fortuner. Fuel economy of the diesel is claimed at 20.4 KPL - closely rivaling the Strong Hybrid engine that is set to appear in the new Innova Hycross (despite the CX-60 being a much heavier vehicle). This demonstrates large Diesels still have a life and can go head to head with petrol-hybrid powertrains that are being proposed as the new "clean" answer for large SUV and MPVs.

https://www.drive.com.au/news/2023-m...ice-and-specs/

[RavenAvi]

Birdie has been reading this thread and gives us an update regarding the future of diesels from 3 big manufacturers:-

1) Mahindra, Tata & Hyundai will retain their BS6 1.5L diesel engines.

2) The Tata Altroz will be available post-2023 with a diesel engine option too.

3) No concrete info on the Hyundai i20 diesel yet. Expect an update on that soon.

4) Mahindra is expected to take the SCR route.

5) Tata is expected to stick to LNT technology even beyond April 2023.


More info as and when I get them.

[Benoit]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

2) The Tata Altroz will be available post-2023 with a diesel engine option too.

3) No concrete info on the Hyundai i20 diesel yet. Expect an update on that soon.

Thanks for the info. Being an altroz diesel owner, I am definitely happy that Altroz diesel will not lose relevance so early.

From what I heard from someone working in Hyundai, i20 and Verna might lose out of diesels. Let's wait it out.