Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra and Tata Motors have decided to discontinue their entry-level diesel engine(s) by March 2020, but not Hyundai. According to a new report, the South Korean automaker will upgrade its entry-level diesel engine to BS-VI.
Most automakers are finding upgrading their entry-level diesel engine(s) to BS-VI and employing them in budget models too expensive. However, Hyundai plans to continue its 1.2 U2 CRDi diesel engine in the Grand i10 and Xcent. “We are fortunate that a lot of the development work and costs to upgrade the U2 diesel engine family to BS6 have been taken care of,” a company source said.
While the 1.2L U2 CRDi diesel engine’s cost will go up significantly after the BS-VI upgrade and become very expensive for the Grand i10 and Xcent, Hyundai will be at an advantage of having a monopolistic market. The BS-VI upgrade will make this engine “around INR 30,000-40,000” costlier, but the competition will be much lower. “With Maruti and others discontinuing diesel cars, we have an opportunity to fill the gap in the market of around 3,00,000 cars per year,” the source added.
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Hyundai’s 1.2L U2 CRDi diesel engine will likely be the last remaining three-cylinder diesel mill in India. The company’s BS-VI diesel engine range will include even a newly developed 1.5L unit that will debut by March 2020. The all-new diesel engine will be made in two states of tune and likely debut in the facelifted Verna. It may power the Venue and the next-gen Creta as well.
[Source: autocarindia.com]
