Renault may discontinue diesel cars in India by April 2020.
Renault’s chief executive officer Thierry Bolloré revealed that the company will stop selling diesel cars in India by 2020. The decision comes in sync with the company’s global policy involving gradually phasing out diesel cars due to falling demand and the increasingly rigid emission norms.
The company uses the sole 1.5-litre K9K diesel engine unit in the Renault-Nissan India line-up. This engine powers a wide range of Renault cars like the Captur, Duster and Lodgy. Nissan uses the K9K unit in Micra, Sunny, Terrano and the recently launched Kicks.
Although, there is a slight possibility that Renault may get a green flag for its K9K unit. The company can upgrade this engine to BS6 norms by using a Lean NOx Trap (LNT). LNT is a cheaper alternative for the originally planned Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system, which meets the BS6 norms but it’s generating greater costs for the company. SCR’s higher cost and drastic drop in K9K sales in India resulted in SCR being an impractical option.
Anyhow, Renault’s focus right now is on its budget car line-up. The Renault Triber was unveiled on Wednesday. Triber along with another Renault compact SUV to be launched in 2020 is aimed at doubling the vehicle sales of Renault in India by 2022.
Renault Diesel Cars
– Company will stop selling diesel cars in India by 2020
– Renault plans to gradually phase out diesel engines globally
– Renault uses the sole 1.5-litre diesel unit in the Renault-Nissan India line up
Source – AutocarIndia.com