Renault Joins Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors In Shunning Diesel Cars In India
Renault SA plans to stop selling diesel cars in India once stricter Bharat Stage-VI emission norms kick in from April 2020, months after peers Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. and Tata Motors Ltd. announced similar plans citing unviable production costs.
“There is a clear regulatory approach that there won't be diesel in the future period,” Renault Group Chief Executive Thierry Bollore told reporters on the sidelines of the global launch of its minivan, Renault Triber, in Delhi. “As a consequence, we have decided to limit the development of diesel globally.”
Automakers are cutting back on diesel car plans as deregulation of the fuel narrowed the gap with the prices of petrol. The stricter emission standards for cleaner air in Indian cities, some of which have the world's most toxic air, will make diesel-powered vehicles costlier and less lucrative for buyers. Maruti Suzuki has said it will stop making diesel cars by April next year, while Tata Motors said low demand for such variants doesn't justify high development costs.
“I think this is the strategy that we are going to follow,” Bollore said, when asked it it will join Maruti Suzuki by completely stopping diesel vehicles. The Renault Triber won't come with a diesel variant, he said.
Bollore, who took charge after Carlos Ghosn was arrested last year, said while the phasing out diesel vehicles will take time, Renault is selling fewer of these around the world. “All regulations are designed to push the car industry towards EV (electric vehicles) or very refined powertrains…hydrogen or this type of clean mobility.”
Push For Electric Vehicles
Renault is already working on electric vehicles for the Indian market. “We're heavily working on the products and will come back soon with the announcement,” Fabrice Cambolive, senior vice-president and chairman of Africa-Middle East-India Region at the automaker, told BloombergQuint in an interview. He said Renault will design an electric vehicle for the Indian market within five years.
Cambolive said Renault—which currently has 2.5 percent market share in India—aims to introduce one vehicle every year. “The strategy is also to slowly enter new segments in the country.”
Electric vehicles, according to Bollore, will play an important part in Renault's target to double annual sales to 2 lakh units by 2022.
Watch the interview with Fabrice Cambolive here:
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