Renault Likely To Axe Diesel Engine Models in India in BS-VI Regime

• Published On: 28 June 2019
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Renault Likely To Stop Making Diesel Engine Cars in India

The stringent BS-VI emission norms will come into effect from April next year and brand have been sharing their product strategy regarding the new emission regime since quite some time now. The latest news comes from the stables of French automaker Renault as the brand maybe on the way to make the decision to discontinue their 1.5L K9K turbo diesel engine. This engine is the same one that is found on SUVs like the Duster and Captur as well as the Lodgy MPV from the brand. The reason behind this is the strict BS-VI emission norms that will come into force from April 2020. The engine is its current state does not comply with the strict emission norms of the future. The maker could take the decision to update the engine as per the upcoming emission norms but the update may prove to be a costly affair as the engine is dated and updating it would incur a significant expense due to the same reason. The nearly 10 years old K9K engine comes with a 8 valve-single overhead camshaft head in contrast to the 16 valve head twin overhead camshafts layout found in modern diesel engines.

The development was announced at the Triber launch event a few days ago as the CEO of the brand noted that the maker just may stop building diesel engine cars come April 2020. Renault CEO Thierry Bollore stated,

Diesel sales are naturally decreasing as a percentage of sale because of regulations and we have decided to limit the development of diesel engines for the future.

Readers would be aware that the Triber MPV will be sold only with a petrol engine in the Indian market. The lack of availability of a diesel engine option could severely impact the sales of the brand as diesel engines make up the majority of the share of even the low selling Duster and Captur models in the market. Not to mention the Lodgy MPV is available with the diesel engine option only.

This means that the existing diesel models of the French automaker could shift to using the petrol engines from the brand, notably the 1.5L petrol engine. Although all hope is not lost on the diesel engine as of now. The French company is trying to use a relatively cost effective method in order to make the K9K diesel engine comply with the BS-VI emission norms. However, the low cost Lean NOx Trap tech is not as effective as the pricier but effective Selective Catalyst Reduction tech. Only time will tell whether the company is successful in updating the diesel engines, do watch this space for relevant info on the development.