Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is working on a new family of petrol (gasoline) engines, said a top company executive. Mahindra is among the automakers most affected by recent efforts to control emissions in New Delhi. "We are already on our way to having a strong petrol portfolio. We have more petrol engines in the pipeline. We are currently working on the Scorpio and XUV500 petrol versions," said Pawan Goenka, executive director of M&M. "These products with a petrol option will not be available tomorrow but would be in the medium term," he added, without defining "medium term".
Goenka was speaking on the heels of M&M revealing its latest compact sport utility vehicle (SUV), which will be offered with a 1.2-litre petrol engine in addition to a diesel counterpart. The new 1.5-litre engines, developed on a modular architecture, have involved an investment of nearly INR5 billion (USD75.4 million). The engines meet BS-IV (Bharat Stage IV) emission norms and are capable of meeting BS-V and BS-VI emission norms, said Goenka.
Supreme Court expands the diesel vehicle ban to National Capital Region (NCR)
Meanwhile, the Environment Protection Control Authority (EPCA) has ordered Gurgaon, Faridabad, Sonepat, Bahadurgarh and Jhajjar districts in Haryana, and Ghaziabad, Meerut, and Gautam Budh Nagar in Uttar Pradesh to stop registering vehicles with engines above 2.0-litre displacement. The order impacts autos, taxis, and buses that run on diesel. The EPCA has been tasked with implementing the Supreme Court's recent order that banned registration of diesel vehicles with engines above 2.0-litre displacement in the capital city until 31 March 2016. The pollution control body also ordered district authorities to stop issuing fitness certificates to diesel-run autos and taxis from 1 January and buses from 1 June. The meeting was attended by officials from the neighbouring states of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan, among others. Following the orders, the ban on registration of new private diesel vehicles with engines above 3.0-litre displacement has effectively been expanded into the NCR.
Outlook and implications
The latest judiciary developments have been harsh for Mahindra, whose entire product line-up is currently powered by diesel engines. The 1.2-litre petrol engine is Mahindra's first gasoline powerplant on one of its models. The company had offered Renault-sourced petrol engines on its Scorpio SUV and Logan sedan (later renamed Verito) but phased out the versions following weak demand. Mahindra and its Korean subsidiary SsangYong also jointly developed a 1.6-litre petrol engine, although the engine is not yet offered on a Mahindra nameplate. Currently, the Mahindra Bolero, Scorpio, and XUV500 are powered by either a 2.5-litre or a 2.2-litre diesel engine, which makes these models ineligible for registration in the capital region until 31 March 2016. In absence of the Scorpio and XUV500 models in the region, Mahindra showrooms in the region will be relying heavily on the soon-to-be launched KUV100 and the recently introduced TUV300. In 2014, Mahindra sold nearly 211,100 units of the Bolero, Scorpio, and XUV500 SUVs, accounting for more than half of its light vehicle sales, according to IHS data. Although these vehicles were sold across the country, Delhi and the adjoining cities make one of the biggest clusters for SUVs.
Launch of the 1.2-litre petrol engine on the KUV100 SUV represents a trend that has already resulted in engine downsizing elsewhere in Mahindra. The TUV300 SUV – Mahindra's latest product available in the market – is powered by a 1.5-litre diesel engine, marking a departure from large-displacement engines. The downsizing resonates with another regulatory development of phasing out of subsidies on diesel fuel in recent years. This trend has greatly diminished the attractiveness of large SUVs, which are invariably offered with diesel engines. While D-segment SUVs continue to be powered by bigger engines, growth in the SUV segment in recent years has been restricted to compact versions.
Meanwhile, the arbitrary order from the Supreme Court underlines the lack of a proper legislative roadmap for emissions in India. India needs a clear roadmap to achieve environment-friendly solutions and a robust policy incentivising the scrapping of older commercial vehicles. The ban on diesel vehicles with engine displacements above 2.0 litres sold in the NCR area could affect about 2,500–3,000 vehicles per month. The order might also prompt other Indian cities that face similar air-quality issues to impose similar bans. Apart from Mahindra, luxury vehicle manufacturers will also be affected by the measure. Among the luxury OEMs, Audi and BMW have just one diesel engine each below the threshold while Mercedes-Benz has no diesel engine smaller than 2.0 litres on offer.
