In a huge disappointment to the lovers of diesel cars, Tata has today announced that it will discontinue the production of Tiago, Tigor diesel variants as the BS-VI emission norms become effective from April 1, 2020.
The present 1.05-litre, three-cylinder diesel engine in these cars is not according to the latest BS-VI norms, and the company has decided not to upgrade the diesel variants owing to low demand.
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Also, the Indian carmaker has notified that the high cost required for upgrading the diesel engine cannot be compensated due to the low demand for diesel vehicles in the country. "Around 80 percent of the demand in this segment (Tiago and Tigor) is for the petrol variants and thus the additional investment required does not make a viable plan," said Rajendra Petkar, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Tata Motors.
The Tiago diesel variant contributed only 14 percent in the overall sale of Tiago cars during April 2018-January 2019. According to the company, out of the total 7720 Tiago cars sold during the period, only 1114 units were diesel while the remaining were petrol variants.
The sale performance of Tigor diesel was also similarly disappointing with only 15 percent contribution in the total sale. While the company managed to sell 1940 Tigor petrol cars during the period, only 360 units of Tigor diesel were sold.
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The disappointing sale results accompanied by the rapidly approaching deadline for the implementation of BS-VI emission norms have made the company take this decision. The same kinds of decisions are expected from other car makers as well who might discontinue their smaller diesel variants who are not up to the latest emission norms.