Data suggests India consumers preferring petrol cars over diesel
The demand for petrol cars is increasing in the Indian market now instead of diesel vehicles. However, this trend is not only in India but it is being seen all over the world. Recently, when Kia Motors released the sales figures, it revealed that the 1.0-liter and 1.2-liter petrol engines of the compact SUV Sonnet have 60 per cent bookings. While the rest is owned by diesel variants.
Three out of five SUVs with petrol engine
According to data released by SIAM, an association of automobile companies, the share of petrol SUVs has increased in the last few years. SUV buyers in the midsize segment are also preferring petrol variants over diesel. Three out of every five SUVs sold in the first half of FY 20-21 were petrol engines. At the same time, the share of petrol variants in the midsize SUV segment has reached 38%.
Diesel engine share in small vehicles 0.3 percent
According to the data, there has been an unprecedented rise in demand for petrol-powered passenger vehicles. There was an increase of 60 per cent in FY 2017, 60 per cent in 2018, 64 per cent in 2019, 71 per cent in 2020 and 81 from April to August 2020. The share of diesel in small cars now stands at just one per cent and in sedan cars it is down to just 6 per cent, compared to 13 per cent in small cars in FY 2018 and 49 per cent in FY 2018 for sedan cars. In October, the share of diesel engines in small vehicles declined to 0.3 per cent, while the share of petrol engines in entry and midsize SUVs rose to 57 per cent in the current financial year.
Diesel engine only in premium cars
Auto sector experts say that the first major reason for this difference can be attributed to BS6 Norms. They say that the manufacturing cost of diesel engines increased due to BS6 standards. Compared to the petrol engine, this difference reached Rs 2 lakh. This was the reason that Renault, Maruti, Nissan, Skoda and Volkswagen avoided the manufacture of diesel engines. However, Maruti has announced to rebuild the diesel engine. While the rest of the companies are offering diesel engines only in premium cars, it has stopped making for small cars.
Running cost almost equal
The other big reason is the low difference in the price of diesel and petrol. The difference in both fuel prices is steadily shrinking, which is discouraging customers. Experts say that when the running cost of petrol and diesel vehicle reaches almost equal, then why customers will pay extra amount for diesel car. In some cities, the price of petrol and diesel has now gone down to just Rs 6 to 7, compared to Rs 31 in 2012.
