Honda diesel engine options to phase out, preparing for the upcoming RDE norms
Honda Cars India is currently evaluating to discontinue diesel engine option in India. Takuya Tsumura, president & CEO of Honda Cars India claims that Honda is not thinking too much about diesel now and it’ll be very hard to clear RDE (Real Driving Emissions) norms with diesel.
He says even in Europe, most of the brands couldn’t continue with the diesel tech and similar situation is happening in India.
Currently, Honda is evaluating the viability of the diesel as a fuel. With the upcoming RDE (Real Driving Emissions) norms coming into effect in April 2023, followed by the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ 2) norms, carmakers will have to achieve emission targets in both ideal test conditions and real world conditions.
Honda entered the diesel battle late in India when most of the manufacturers were spinning out big volumes of diesel powered cars, specially Maruti and Hyundai. Currently they offer the 1.5-litre i-DTEC diesel engine with the new Honda City, WR-V and Amaze.
Honda has recently introduced strong hybrid tech in the City. In the future, the carmaker is expected to focus on strong hybrid and are also evaluating electric vehicles for India.