Ford India won't drop diesel selling diesel models post BS-VI rollout - Report

Many automakers are considering retiring their diesel engines due to high upgrade costs involved in upgrading them BS-IV to BS-VI. However, Ford, has recently announced that it has no plans of taking its diesel cars out of production due to the BS-VI emission norms that come into effect on 1 April 2020.

Ford India will be ready with BS-VI compliant engines before the 1 April 2020 deadline knocks on the door. "We will continue to offer the power of choice to consumers and will not stop diesel models," Ford India Executive Director, Marketing, Sales and Service Vinay Raina told PTI recently. "Ford will also be fully ready with its range of BS-VI compliant diesel powertrains ahead of April 2020 implementation," he added.

The company says that with the introduction of BS-VI norms, there will be a significant hike in the passenger vehicle prices (8% to 10%), however, the hike will take place across the vehicle segments and will not be limited to just diesel vehicles. Also, Ford India will introduce the petrol versions of all vehicles to safeguard sales from slowing down.

Ford - with the introduction of EcoSport in 2013 - was among the first to bring petrol engines into the consideration set of UV buyers. To complement the diesel technology, we will continue to deepen the portfolio of petrol engines and offer more BS-VI compliant petrol engines options to our consumers.

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In other recent updates, Ford India has confirmed that it will launch a C-SUV co-developed with Mahindra. This model will compete with the likes of Jeep Compass and Tata Harrier.

[Source: auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com]