[iamswift]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

2. I also have my doubts, esp. since many buyers (esp in the South) drive well under 10,000km a year but have opted for Diesels.

I would simply say, "Herd mentality".
=> There is no analysis on their part.
=> Decision is solely based on how and what others are buying.
=> Even before buying, they think of resale value and yet they would keep the car forever.
=> Won't realize that it takes 8 to 10 years to get back the premium they pay for diesel cars.

Originally Posted by figo_mba

Different pricing of diesel is not going to be possible simply because it is difficult to differentiate between truck diesel and car diesel. Or more simply since diesel is a commodity that can be used alike.

One possibility - but take very long time and authority to implement among stiff resistence from Bunk owners.
Making it mandatory for luxury diesel cars to have some kind of decoder which would allow only fuel of specific kind. (There can be some sort of chemical that can be mixed with diesel to get this specific kind). This special diesel would not have any subsidy.

[figo_mba]

Originally Posted by iamswift

One possibility - but take very long time and authority to implement among stiff resistence from Bunk owners.
Making it mandatory for luxury diesel cars to have some kind of decoder which would allow only fuel of specific kind. (There can be some sort of chemical that can be mixed with diesel to get this specific kind). This special diesel would not have any subsidy.

You are looking at a lot of investment upfront. One thing
second thing is that that governments should be ready to take a hard stand and say manufacturers need to come up with a diesel engine for trucks which works on high subsidy diesel and cars that do not work on that specific diesel. Wait!! still it is diesel. People will find a way around it.
Also do we have a government anywhere in the world who does not get lobbied ? Do you think these OEMs are going to spare any effort to lobby against these things.

Call me biased or pessimistic but such hardline policies are hard to come by and make the governments unpopular( they get voted out and no body in power likes that).

Lots of politics and less of national interest I think. Will stop now.

[Monaro CV8]

Let me try and put this in a different perspective.

I've got 4 cars for our use in the household and all are diesel.
So does that make me any less popular because I'm using the subsided fuel sold in the country or am I robbing the transport industry in this country of their precious diesel?

No.

I'll say that I'm an opportunist, and whats wrong with that?

We are seeing the days when FIAT are marketing their cars - "buy a Diesel car for the price of a Petrol" !
We all know that others are following suite.
What do we have to say about the ROI for a Diesel car viz a viz a Petrol Car now?

Gone are the days when a diesel engine was looked at as a heavy workhorse requiring 'x' nos. of driving kms in a year.
Today's diesel engine technology has seen tremendous growth over the last decade. And from my experience they are one of the 2nd best (if not the first) engine options to own & maintain.
An average diesel car if serviced at regular OEM specified intervals, will keep the owner from Hassle free unnecessary maintenance issues over the long run.

IMO, for an average car, diesel engines have revolutionized the way we expect the performance & fuel economy figures, as compared to similar petrol engines.

Whats in the number of yearly kms running, if you enjoy your daily drive torque'y' car. Fun driving with a better mileage too!

[volkman10]

Diesel cars out strips the petrol counterparts -Chevrolet Beat, Maruti Swift, Volkswagen Polo, Ford Fiesta, Hyundai Verna give petrol cars a run for money!




"They may be pricier, but cheaper fuel has resulted in sales of diesel carssteadily outstripping their petrol counterparts ever since the price differential widened in May. With diesel cheaper by an average of 53% across the major metros, buyers are making a beeline for cars powered by these engines.

Some 56% of all compacts sold in August were diesel cars. The figure has steadily risen from 39% in July 2010 to 45% in January to 51% in June. Compacts, which range from the Chevrolet Beat to the MarutiSwift, Volkswagen Polo andFord Figo, account for 70% of all cars sold.

It's a similar story in the sedan segment comprising models such as the Honda City, Volkswagen Vento, Maruti SX4, Ford Fiesta, Hyundai Verna and Chevrolet Aveo. A year ago, diesel vehicles comprised just 28% of the car market. That figure would be as high as 64% now, according to estimates by industry insiders.

"Nobody anticipated anything like this. How do you prepare for that kind of swing?" asks Mayank Pareek, marketing sales executive officer, Maruti Suzuki.

But prepare they have to. When the price difference between diesel and petrol was 9 last year, 55% of Maruti's customers preferred the diesel option in the segments in which India's largest car maker offered that option. Today, when the difference between petrol and diesel prices is more than 20, 85% of them are opting for the diesel version.

In the April to August period, Maruti sold about 4 lakh cars, with diesel models accounting for a little over a fifth of those sales.

Maruti offers diesel variants in four of its 12 models - the Swift, SX4, Ritz and Swift DZire. As Suzuki isn't best known for diesel technology, it has partnered with Fiat for engine supply. In 2011 so far, three-fourths of the Swifts, three-fifths of the Swift DZires and two-thirds of the Ritz models sold have been diesel variants.

In comparison just two-thirds of Swifts and under half of Ritz cars sold a year ago were diesel models.

The shift has been more dramatic for Ford India. Till around December 2010, around 55% of the Figo's sales were of diesel versions. That figure has now shot up to 75%.

VW, which bet on diesel early on in India, is reaping the benefits. All its cars in India are available in diesel, barring the Beetle. In fact, VW's sedan Passat is available only in diesel.

At the other end of the spectrum, around 70% of VW Polo cars sold a year ago were petrol. Today the split is 50:50. "I see a slightly further skew towards diesel. Diesel technology has evolved so much that I see a preference for diesel even when the subsidy is reduced," says Neeraj Garg, director, Volkswagen (passenger cars) India.

Toyota has just launched the diesel variants of the Etios sedan and small car Liva. "We have seen the market dynamics changing and the rapid shift toward diesel cars. Customers are gradually buying diesel despite the higher ticket price," says Sandeep Singh, deputy managing director (marketing), Toyota Kirloskar. The share of Toyota's diesel vehicles in its total sales in India has grown to over 70% in the past two months."