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Demand for diesel variants of cars skyrockets

With price gap between diesel and petrol fuels getting wider, more and more buyers in the Indian market opting for diesel version of cars in the country. There has been a major shift in the buyers looking for diesel run cars in recent months. Currently, while the diesel fuel is available at Rs 41.29 per litre, the petrol is available at Rs 63.70 a litre (prices in national capital). In a recent statement given to leading Indian news daily, General Motors India director (sales) Vikas Jain said that the diesel run cars that account for only 20 percent of the market will continue expanding rapidly.

It is to be mentioned here that more than 70 percent of the passenger car market is contributed by the small car segment. And many of the popular small cars in the country like Maruti Alto, Maruti Wagon R, Tata Nano and Hyundai i10 are still available in petrol versions only.

The Sudden rush for diesel run cars has force a number of car makers to launch the diesel variants of their cars to keep their competitiveness alive in the market. While General Motors have already launched diesel version of their small car Chevrolet Beat, the cars like Hyundai i10 and Tata Motors are all set to be launched in diesel versions by the end of this year. The recently launched Beat diesel version is receiving a staggering response for the buyers in the country. The car is claimed to the most fuel efficient car in the country with 24 kmpl on offer.

The diesel engine technology, which was earlier notorious for the high emission, engine noise and slow pickup, has now become the most preferable, thanks to the modern technology that has helped diesel engines in overcoming these shortcomings of the diesel engines.

The trend of more buyers opting for the diesel versions of the cars over their petrol counterparts is not limited to the Indian market, as the same scenario is seen in the European countries.