[volkman10]

As with the easing of pricing of petrol it is seen a shift in demand towards petrol and customers preference to diesel is was on the decline.
The Delhi government recently ban over 10 year old diesel vehicles will accelerate the on-going shift from diesel to petrol vehicles apart from giving a slight uplift to near-term demand. Resale value of diesel vehicles has dropped sharply post the Delhi ban, and that consumers in other parts of India might also fear similar bans.

Added to the previous reasoning’s the awareness of the highly efficient turbo petrol’s will only cement the boom of petrol vehicles over diesel.

Hybrid though is still to catch up, with the recent announcement of the government’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric vehicle scheme could get traction in coming years.

So are the manufactures geared up for this shift in the auto segment?

Maruti Suzuki is speculated to be insulated with this shift, since they have options with the brand.

“Around 77% of Maruti's diesel car sales are in the Swift and DZire models. We believe these customers will most likely switch to the petrol Swift/DZire”

Maruti is a late entrant to the turbo petrol, but with the recent announcement on the boosterjet engines could catch up on this.
In Hybrid space they have products like Swift and possibly could bring them at the right time.

Ar the other end of the spectrum, Tata motors.

About 70 percent of Tata's passenger vehicle sales are diesel. and a high probability that customers might shift from Tata's diesel cars to the petrol cars of other carmakers instead of Tata's own petrol cars since Tata is not known for its petrol cars.

Though the recently announced Revotron Petrol's it is yet to woo the customers as seen in the past sales figures.

M&M would not possible see a decline as it is very strong in its UV portfolio, is strong in the respective segments. New turbo petrol engines plans too are known to be under test.

Hyundai(turbo petrol engines unveiled), VW, Honda, Toyota, Ford being global will see to bring their Global technology ( turbo engine, hybrid) based on the policies but will be challenged in terms of cost.

The shift has started and come 2016 it will be clear the customers will be the winner as with various options to choose from but clearly diesel will take a backseat in the buying preference.

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/sto...i_1366597.html

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Indian Car Scene. Thanks for sharing!

[Vishal.R]

Few points from my side,

Diesel cars will still enjoy some advantages,
1.) Better fuel economy.
2.) Better torque at low RPM (v/s Non turbo petrol engines)

As we know, in many European countries diesel cars are still doing well despite no price advantage.

For cabs or private users with very high usage, diesel will still remain a preferred choice.

In recent years I have seen many buyers going for diesel even if monthly usage is not very high, this might change now.

Therefore I agree that buyers will think more before giving huge premiums for Diesel version of same car/variant, but diesel cars still have a place in market.

For TATA, Their decision to develop Revotron engine has already giving good results. I read either on Zest review or new car prices check thread that discounts are being offered on Quadrajet ZEST but not on Revotron, also from my personal experience of Indica XETA in family since last seven years, biggest problem with that old 1.2 engine was engine sound, which was taken care of as per the review, otherwise reliability and economy are two positive aspect of that engine, so at least on this front they are on track.

[Chetan_Rao]

If we're speaking of those who'll be worst hit, FIAT is worth a mention. They're pretty much the heart of the Indian diesel small car market.

OR, this may actually give them the kick up the arse they need to bring in their T-Jet and MultiAir tech to mainstream India instead of sitting pretty on royalty money from the 1.3 MJD.

[deetjohn]

Good news! This means, the artificial premium for Diesel cars will come down.

Now, all we need are some turbos and electric motors to be added to the weedy 1.2 L petrol engines.

[Cartman]

Firstly, the NGT decision is a knee-jerk reaction and is entirely baseless. I don't really buy the fact that the prices for used diesel cars have crashed due to this ruling alone.

Diesels have made sense only when you know your car is going to be a workhorse. For the average man who has bought a car for his weekend family meetings, diesel makes absolutely no sense. Conversely, I know people who've paid premiums for diesel cars just because the running cost is low. Yet to figure out why they fail to look at the bigger picture. That said, it is rather pointless trying to decipher Indian car buying trends. I believe; like everything - majority of the car buyers still want something that is sasta, sundar aur tikau.

Now, what happens, to say - the Fiesta? With only a diesel mill in the options list - what does Ford do? Introduce the 1.6? Or plonk the puny EcoBoost in with a higher state of tune?


Cheers!
Cartman

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by Cartman

Now, what happens, to say - the Fiesta? With only a diesel mill in the options list - what does Ford do?.......

Guess Ford , in their newer launches will never repeat with a 'diesel only' option.

Here is what this year the market has seen so far, pricier diesel drives auto demand back to petrol, share of petrol vehicles goes up at Honda, Maruti Suzuki as diesel steadily loses its price advantage.

The demand shift has translated into higher discounts on diesel vehicles — from Rs 15,000 on hatchbacks to as much as Rs 1 lakh on midsize sedans — and a significant drop in the waiting period that stretched to several months for popular diesel models not long ago. Some petrol models now have a one to-three month waiting period.

The 2014 data for used car still shows the %of queries is 66% and those of diesel are 34%( increased from 2013 data), but this trend seem to be increasing the gap between the two favoring petrol in coming years.


http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/46036238.cms

[Cartman]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Guess Ford , in their newer launches will never repeat with a 'diesel only' option.

Just goes to show how out of tune Ford is with that market, doesn't it? The sheer number of Ciaz Xis and the Vento TSis you see on a daily basis is proof that the segment is open to efficient petrol engines.

Originally Posted by volkman10

Here is what this year the market has seen so far, pricier diesel drives auto demand back to petrol, share of petrol vehicles goes up at Honda, Maruti Suzuki as diesel steadily loses its price advantage.

Must be an amusing sight at Honda HQ. The City finally got a diesel heart, and the customer is moving back to the petrol!


Cheers!
Cartman

[su1978]

Although the market is seeing a shift towards petrol, but that is only limited to buyers who make a sensible decision depending upon the initial premium and higher service cost of oil burners. Have discussed the matter with many of lesser knowledgeable folks. They insist that diesel is easy on their pockets at the petrol bunks. What they miss out is the usage pattern and service cost. One of the acquaintence simply said that i have a diesel and out of five years of usage, his car has either gone to doctors or at marriages. 5 years and just 15000 kms for a diesel makes no sense at all. He has had many issues like blocked injectors every 2 months.

Even i myself find my petrol much eay to drive and the hassle free nature of petrol is a soothing factor.

[rsidd]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

If we're speaking of those who'll be worst hit, FIAT is worth a mention. They're pretty much the heart of the Indian diesel small car market.

OR, this may actually give them the kick up the arse they need to bring in their T-Jet and MultiAir tech to mainstream India instead of sitting pretty on royalty money from the 1.3 MJD.

Please note that any royalties from licensing the 1.3MJD go to Fiat's parent company, not to Fiat India. For example, the engines manufactured under licence by Maruti and GM. On the other hand, revenues from sales of diesel engines to Maruti, and the engines used in Tata cars, do go to Fiat India (technically the Fiat/Tata JV, I think). That is significant, but nevertheless to call them "the heart of the Indian diesel small car market" is a huge stretch. The best-selling diesel Tata cars (regular Indica/Indigo, ie not Vista/Manza/Bolt/Zest) use Tata's own engines, not Fiat. Renault/Nissan, Hyundai, Honda, VW, Ford and most other diesel small-car vendors use their own engines too. Mahindra Verito/Vibe use Renault engines.

As noted by other commenters, the taxi market is likely to stick with diesel, and Maruti is expanding its presence in this market via Dzire Tour. So Fiat is likely ok for now, but hopefully they have plans for the time within 2-3 years when Maruti phases in its own diesel engines.

[theMAG]

Originally Posted by volkman10

As with the easing of pricing of petrol it is seen a shift in demand towards petrol and customers preference to diesel is was on the decline.
..[/url]

Although its still early days for the pro-petrol market segment (the cab segment will be the last to adapt, in the absence of practical alternate fuels), if this trend continues, one should expect to see a normalization of petrol/diesel car cost: much needed. Eventually, diesel can also be expected to become pricier than petrol - as is the normal trend worldwide.

On the other topic of regulations on diesel vehicles, its a matter of time time before the age-limitation comes into effect in Tier 1 cities atleast, following Delhi's lead. I dont think India will go as far as France - in banning personal diesel vehicle sales at any time in the future though.

[advaitlele]

So, what's the rationale behind exorbitant difference between petrol and diesel variants?
Cost to manufacture Ertiga ZDI should definitely be not 100k more than ZXI, the premium Maruti is charging.
Should not manufacturers have a relook at their pricing sheet?

[arjab]

Originally Posted by advaitlele

So, what's the rationale behind exorbitant difference between petrol and diesel variants?

Profit. As much as possible, get the customer to pay!

Originally Posted by advaitlele

Should not manufacturers have a relook at their pricing sheet?

Nowadays, all OEM's collective eyes are on the cost sheet and maximum profitability, especially so when the model in question sells well. Increase prices on best seller to cross subsidise the losses on the duds.
Else, how do you explain an almost close to 19 lac rupee on-road price, for a top model Innova? A close to 13 lac rupees on-road for an Ford Ecosport top end diesel and an almost 16 lacs for a diesel top model Duster AWD?

All these vehicles have had significant production runs, across the globe, are derivatives of common platform sharing strategy.I am sure, the benefits of scale economies and cost amortisation over the respective products line are already looking good, yet we see prices go up, up and up! S-i-g-h!

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by rsidd

.......to call them "the heart of the Indian diesel small car market" is a huge stretch.........

That comment wasn't intended to be taken literally, but it isn't a huge stretch either.

Maruti is FIAT's biggest MJD customer in India, and most of their models outsell competition regularly (some almost all competitors combined). Tata also uses the tech in their passenger cars, and other vendors have engines derived from the FIAT MJD, notably Chevy's 936cc XSDE I3 used in the Beat.

Anyway, my primary point wasn't how much money FIAT makes or whether they're the godfathers of small diesel engines in India (both are arguably true), but that this market shift towards Petrol might make them bring their latest turbo petrol tech to India, which would be terrific, esp. for the enthusiasts. The 135-BHP Punto T-Jet was recently rumored to be launched soon, so this may already be happening.

[volkman10]

Rise of petrol vehicles, is one reason for the astounding growth and profit of Maruti. Expected to sustain this momentum and with the Power train mix of diesel and petrol variants would not see a shift of customer base away from Maruti.

The reason why the company can attract buyers despite lower discount is the roll-out of new models and a rise in the sale of petrol vehicles in which Maruti has a higher market share

http://auto.economictimes.indiatimes...-term/47091020