Of late and in the next few years to come, there have and there will be a slew of diesel variants of cars from almost all auto majors entering India. Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Hyundai and Maruti Suzuki all plan to bring in diesel versions of their new cars into the Indian market.
The Indian car buyer has changed his way of thinking. The present-generation buyer does not really break his head thinking of the high maintenance cost and pricing while opting for the diesel car. Technology has improved, the fuel efficiency has also shown a significant change and the changes apply to diesel cars as well. One does not have to think too hard. It has become unnecessary now and belongs to the yesteryears. Diesel cars have their own marketplace within the Indian market.
Mercedes-Benz's new E-Class in diesel, BMW's diesel models, the Hyundai Sonata Transform diesel, all indicate the growing diesel car trend. Then, we also have the diesel variant of the Maruti Suzuki SX4 which will soon grace the Indian roads. A look at the actual sales figures reveal that luxury car makers like BMW, Mercedes and Audi sell more diesel variants compared to their petrol counterparts. The Toyota Fortuner with the diesel heart entered India only to push out the Honda CR-V petrol variant that was ruling the SUV segment till then. Toyota is one car maker that sells around 99 per cent of its cars as diesel variants. The advanced diesel technology can deliver the power and torque figures that everyone likes like no other.
65 per cent of the models, Swift and DZire that India's largest selling auto maker Maruti Suzuki sells are diesel variants. Tata, M&M, GM, Hyundai and Ford are also increasing production of their diesel models. Tata Motors' Indica and Indigo, M&M's Logan, GM's Optra and Chevy Cruze and Hyundai's Verna have been experiencing a rise in sales of diesel variants in the recent months.
Diesel prices in India are 30 per cent lower than gasoline or petrol. The demand for efficient diesel variants, has therefore, grown even stronger. Fortunately, Indian car makers too, have a distinct advantage here! They have been coming up with more and more new models with diesel engines and have succeeded in meeting the demand. It is now time for the global OEMs to work harder in the ever growing Indian market. It is not too difficult to build world-class diesel cars within Indian cost structures if they want to be successful. If 5 years ago India exported 130,000 passenger cars, today, the number has increased drastically. Thanks to the advanced diesel technologies and the rising demand.
For more information, check out our Diesel Blog website. This Blog is dedicated to the diesel industry and brings you the latest news, car reviews and information.
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