Volkswagen will localise the next generation 2.0-litre EA288 diesel engine with an aim of cutting down costs of the cars powered by this powerplant.
Volkswagen recently teased the compact sedan Ameo which will be locally manufactured and is developed specially for the Indian market. The German automaker will take this localisation even further by producing the next gen 2.0-litre EA288 diesel engine which will reduce the cost of a wide range of cars that are powered by this motor. This will be the second mill to be produced in India after the company started assembling the 1.5-litre diesel engine last year at the production facility in Chakan near Pune.
The EA288 diesel engine is designed to be used in cars built on Volkswagen’s modular transverse matrix or MQB platform which will include a variety of cars to be built in the future too. It currently powers the new Skoda Octavia and Audi A3 while it will power the 2016 Audi A4 which will be unveiled at the 2016 Auto Expo, new Audi A6, new VW SUVs and Passat, Audi Q2 and the new Skoda Superb. Hence, this localisation will cut down the cost of a variety of strategic vehicles that will lead to increased numbers on the sales chart.
The 2.0-litre EA288 diesel engine is in accordance with the BS-VI norms which will be brought by 2020 as the government is planning to skip BS-V to cut down air pollution. The automakers will have to start selling vehicles that follow the BS-VI norms by 1st April, 2020. This for the European markets mean that the engine will be be in compliance with the Euro VI norms which the cars already have to follow, hence there is a possibility of this engine being exported.
The Volkswagen Group was in the news recently due to the 2.0-litre TDI engines that emitted four times more nitrogen oxide than the permissible limit to give better performance and fuel efficiency. This fact was covered by fitting a defeat device in the cars that used to detect an emission test and reduce the emissions along with the performance but emitted way more while on the road. The German manufacturer faced huge amount of losses as it had to pay huge fines along with the cost of repairing all these cars.
Source – AutocarIndia.com