In April 2023, new regulations for emissions, the RDE or Real Driving Emissions norms will be introduced. These norms are the second phase of the BS6 emission norms and will require all cars to achieve emission targets in real-world conditions.
Additionally, some manufacturers will be putting a halt on some of their car models.
RDE Norms To Be Implemented In April 2023
As RDE tests are conducted in actual traffic situations with frequent changes in speed, acceleration, and deceleration as opposed to more steady conditions in lab tests, the results give a more accurate picture of the number of emissions that cars are likely to produce.
Automobile manufacturers will need to upgrade their engines in order to adhere to the more stringent RDE norms, which will be extremely expensive and possibly unprofitable.
Car manufacturers would then be forced to stop producing certain models altogether or at the very least certain variations of models that have weak business cases.
Over the past few years, there has been a sharp decline in demand for diesel in the hatchback and sedan segments. Every premium hatchback and small sedan offered at least one diesel version even a few years ago. However, today, diesel only accounts for up to 10% of sales of the Hyundai i20, and only 7% of Honda’s total sales in India come from its diesel versions of the Amaze, City, and WR-V.
Honda Jazz, City, Petrol Innova Crysta To Face The Axe by 2023
Honda’s diesel engines will no longer be available in India. However, Mahindra, Kia, Mahindra, Hyundai, and Tata will all continue to produce their 1.5-liter diesel engines, but only for use in their lineups of SUVs and MPVs. This is due to the fact that diesels still account for a sizable portion of sales in SUVs, and since they are more expensive than hatchbacks and compact sedans, they will be better able to justify the price difference that will result from the upgrade.
Additionally, several petrol-only models will no longer be produced by automakers. The Honda Jazz, Nissan Kicks, fourth-generation City, petrol Innova Crysta, and even sedans like the Skoda Octavia and Superb are examples of this.
These specific models were either nearing the end of their useful lives or were selling too slowly to make the cost of upgrading to comply with the RDE standards worthwhile. While some models, like the City Gen-4 and Jazz, were well past their lifecycles and will no longer be produced, others, like the Kicks, KUV100 NXT, WR-V, and Marazzo, barely sold a few hundred units each month.
