Suzuki will discontinue sales of diesel models from Europe by the end of 2018, while Mitsubishi will initially axe diesel models in UK and Germany
Suzuki and Mitsubishi are the latest manufacturers to announce that they are planning to discontinue diesel models in Europe and moving towards petrol and alternative fuel powered cars for future models. Mazda will be the only major Japanese brand to offer diesel models in Europe, as Nissan and Toyota have already announced axing of diesel models.
Ever since the Volkswagen diesel scandal, sales of diesel-powered cars in Europe has fallen each month. In 2011, the market share of diesel cars in Europe was 50 per cent but the current market share is 44 per cent and experts are predicting that it will drop to 32.5 per cent by the end of 2022.
Suzuki was offering two diesel cars in the UK – SX4 S-Cross and Vitara, even though both these models are popular among buyers majority of the customers opted for new generation petrol powered models as they offer similar economy as diesel and low running cost. The company has already stopped production of diesel-powered cars from Hungary plant earlier this year.
But Suzuki will re-introduce diesel car if demand picks up in the future. On the other hand, Mitsubishi is planning to discontinue only diesel-powered SUVs and passengers cars as they will continue to sell diesel pickup trucks which account for more than 30 per cent of total sales.
By the end of 2018, Suzuki will discontinue diesel-powered cars from all European countries while Mitsubishi will initially axe diesel cars from the UK and Germany markets followed by France. Some of the European countries like the UK and France are planning to stop sales of diesel and petrol powered passenger cars by 2040.
One of the reasons for low sales of diesel-powered cars is the lack of new models as most of the manufacturers are introducing petrol and hybrid powertrain options only. The diesel engines need lots of work to meet new stringent emission norms and it increases cost, but the manufacturers are not getting their money back as sales are low.