Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) will continue selling XUV500 and Scorpio with 1.99-litre engine in Delhi/NCR till the “dust settles” after the Supreme Court order lifting the ban on 2,000 cc and above diesel automobiles recently.
Struck by the Supreme Court restriction in December, the Mumbai-based car manufacturer had actually released a 1.99-litre version of its mHawk engine series previously this year. The court, however, lifted the restriction, though with one percent environment cess.
“For the time being, we are continuing with 1.99-litre engine for 2 factors. Initially, there is no compromise that the customer has for the 1.99-litre engine, therefore there is no factor for us to change to 2.2-litre engine,” M&M Executive Director Pawan Goenka stated.
If there is a need, the company might transfer to 2.2-litre engine overnight, Goenka stated.
“Till the dust settles, we can decide if we wish to continue with the 1.99-litre engine or return to the 2.2-litre one,” Goenka stated. On whether the one percent environment cess enforced by the Supreme Court will have any impact, Goenka stated, “This is one topic where the industry is totally lined up. The industry is consentaneous that there is no reason to single out diesel for contamination issue in Delhi.”
“By imposing any type of cess you remain in a sense stating that even if you are fulfilling the regulations you still have to pay a penalty,” he added. One per cent cess is not mosting likely to make any distinction either way as it will not prevent the clients from buying a car nor it will help take on pollution in a big way, he stated.
“This is a sort of interim choice the apex court has taken and market has actually concurred since it is much better to have one percent cess than not to be able to offer products. So we had no alternative however to accept this tip and proceed with it,” Goenka stated.
When asked if the company would like this cess to be eliminated going ahead, Goenka stated: “Of course yes.” M&M is likewise looking to remodeling techniques for its two-wheeler business as it has not been able attain wanted success in the vertical up until now.
