Rumour: Land Rover to expand petrol SUV line-up in India

In December 2015, the Supreme Court of India passed an order banning the registration of diesel cars with engine capacities larger than 2,000cc till March 31, 2016 in Delhi.

Manufacturers such as Mahindra, Tata and Toyota that depend heavily on diesel-powered vehicles, have been hit hard by this ban. Mahindra and Toyota have already started considering smaller diesel engines and petrol powerplants for their vehicles.

Luxury carmakers have been affected by the ban as well. Land Rover is one of them. At present the company has no vehicle in its product portfolio with a diesel powerplant under 2,000cc. Its smallest diesel engine is a 2,179cc, 4-cylinder unit. Further, except certain variants of the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport, all Land Rover SUVs use diesel engines only.

With the demand for petrol vehicles likely to rise, the British company is rumoured to be considering the expansion of its petrol SUV model line-up in India.

Land Rover is likely to use a 2.0-litre, 4-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine to power the Discover Sport and the Range Rover Evoque. This engine develops 237 BHP and is mated to a 9-speed automatic transmission.

For the Discovery, Range Rover Sport and Range Rover, the company is likely to use a 3.0-litre, V6 supercharged petrol engine that develops 335 BHP. This powerplant is mated to an 8-speed automatic gearbox.

With the addition of these engines, prospective customers will be able to get their vehicles registered in Delhi once again.

Source: Autocar India