Volkswagen will no longer offer diesels in India

According to a media report, Volkswagen will no longer offer diesel engine options in its cars that are sold in the Indian market. The move comes as part of the company's India 2.0 plan.

One of the reasons behind this move is said to be the falling share of diesel engines in the Indian passenger vehicle segment. The increased price of diesel cars due to BS6 emissions norms is also a factor that led the company to take this decision. In 2017, 39% of cars sold in India were powered by diesel engines. This dropped to 35% in 2019 and 23% in June 2020.

The German carmaker instead plans to focus on their turbo petrol (TSI) engine range. At present, the Volkswagen portfolio consist of the Polo, Vento, T-Roc and Tiguan Allspace. All are offered with only petrol engine options.

Going forward, Volkswagen will focus on the SUV segment. The carmaker plans to increase localization levels from the current 81% to 93% next year. It aims to achieve 95% localization in the medium term.