The segment leader Maruti Ciaz will only get BSVI petrol engine while the upcoming 2020 Honda City will be offered in the BSVI diesel engine along with petrol engine option
Recently, it came to light that Maruti Suzuki plans to discontinue diesel engines post the rollout of the BS-VI norms. Even Tata Motors and Hyundai seem to be planning to pull the plug on their diesel cars from next year. This is due to the fact that upgrading the diesel engines to achieve BSVI compliance is expected to make them costlier by a big margin, which would translate into a lack of enough popularity.
Also, sales of diesel-powered cars have already taken a hit due to a low price gap between petrol and diesel. Still, the 2020 Honda City, which expected to come next year, will offer petrol as well as a diesel engine option. Honda has already announced that it will continue to sell diesel cars, which also means that the 2020 Honda City (next-gen) model, would be available with a BSVI-compliant version of the current 1.5-litre engine.
Source: IAB
Other than upgrading the 1.5-litre iDTEC engine, to power the Jazz, BR-V, WR-V, Amaze and the 2020 Honda City, even the 1.6-litre iDTEC engine of the Civic and CR-V will attain BSVI-compliance. The launch of BSVI-compliant diesel engines is expected to happen in the last quarter of this financial year.
Speaking to PTI, HCIL Senior Vice President and Director (Marketing & Sales), Rajesh Goel, said, “From our experience, for the fuel choice among petrol or diesel, 80 percent of customers make a rational choice based on consideration of driving distance and recovery period. However, there are still 20 percent customers who make an emotional choice towards a particular fuel.”
The New-gen Honda City will be launched in the first quarter of 2020 as it is expected to make its India debut at next year’s Auto Expo. It will be available with a BSVI-compliant 1.5-litre iVTEC petrol and 1.5-litre iDTEC diesel engines. At a later stage, it will even get a hybrid option.
Like the current version, the next-gen Honda City will be pitted against the Hyundai Verna and Maruti Ciaz, among others. It’s likely to cost a fair bit more than the current version, which retails in a price range of Rs 9.72 – 14.07 Lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi).
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