According to a media report, the French car manufacturer Renault has announced that the brand will stop selling diesel engines in India by the year 2020. The brand is likely to gradually phase out the diesel engine line-up as the sales in the segment have decreased. The engine in question is the 1.5-litre, K9K which is the only diesel in the Renault line-up which powers the Duster, Captur and the Lodgy. In Nissan vehicles, the engine is employed on the Kicks, Sunny and the Micra. The engine is still expected to be upgraded and could meet BSVI emission standards by using a less expensive LNT (Lean NOx Trap) method as opposed to the expensive and very effective SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) system.
The K9K engine meets EuroVI standards and employs the SCR system, where it powers a wide variety of cars. The brand also had plans to use the same system to make the vehicle BSVI compliant in India, but the low sales volumes have made the expensive SCR system unviable and the upgrade cost will not be able to balance the economies of scale, in India.
If the brand gains success by employing the LNT system and making the K9K engine BSVI compliant, the diesel engine will stay, otherwise key models like Duster which sells 850 units a month will be completely eliminated from the market as nobody wants a petrol powered Duster.
The brand has revealed the new Triber MPV, which comes with unique packaging with 7-seat configuration and spacious interiors in the segment and is powered by a 1.0-litre 3-cylinder, petrol engine that produces 72 PS of power and 96 Nm of torque mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox.
The brand is at present is concentrating on the budget car segment, but the BSVI deadline which is on 1st April 2020.