Mercedes India mulls new strategy to make up for diesel car ban losses

Mercedes India is one of the worst affected automakers in the Delhi diesel ban episode. The German automaker had to take its entire diesel portfolio off the shelf in the NCR and that had a significant impact on its bottom line this year.

According to the Supreme Court order, diesel cars with engine displacement of more than 2.0-litre are not permitted to be registered within the National Capital Region.

The smallest diesel engine in Mercedes India’s portfolio displaces 2.2-litres. The anti-diesel sentiment in NCR has shifted the customer demand towards petrol engines.

In a bid to counteract the Delhi diesel ban, Mercedes is planning to introduce petrol engines across its lineup. Speaking to Autocar India, Roland Folger, Managing Director and CEO, confirmed that new petrol variants will be introduced by September 2016.

As of now, the only diesel-only models in Mercedes India’s product portfolio are the GLE and GLS SUVs. The regular petrol variants of these two products are expected to come in ‘400’ avatar like the recently introduced S Class petrol. The 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine has 333 PS and 480 Nm of torque. Transmission would be a 7-speed automatic transmission.

We expect other luxury car manufacturers like JLR, BMW and Audi also to adopt a similar strategy in India. Volvo is the only premium manufacturer to escape the Delhi diesel ban as all its models employ smaller power plants.

This article first appeared on Rushlane.com