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Audi India To Enter BS-VI Era With Only Petrol Vehicles, Alternative Fuel Tech

Will enter BS-VI era with only petrol vehicles; EVs, hybrids on anvil: Audi India

Volkswagen AG Audi vehicles stand on display inside the Audi Jaipur dealership on Mirza Ismail (M.I.) Road in Jaipur, Rajasthan. (Photographer: Udit Kulshrestha/Bloomberg)
Volkswagen AG Audi vehicles stand on display inside the Audi Jaipur dealership on Mirza Ismail (M.I.) Road in Jaipur, Rajasthan. (Photographer: Udit Kulshrestha/Bloomberg)

German luxury carmaker Audi AG said it will transition into the Bharat Stage-VI emission norms with petrol vehicles and alternate fuel technologies but won’t exit diesel engines totally.

Audi India, which had recently launched its 8th generation A6 sedan with mild hybrid technology, is considering hybrids and plug-in hybrid vehicles to be brought to the country.

“BS-VI we will start with petrol only, across all models but diesel is not completely out of the picture,” Audi India Head Balbir Singh Dhillon told PTI. “We will launch only petrol and we will also have electric cars coming to India. Whether we will completely exit diesel is something we are still on our drawing board.”

The 2012 Audi AG A6 sedan, left, and Audi A6 Hybrid sit on display at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. (Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)
The 2012 Audi AG A6 sedan, left, and Audi A6 Hybrid sit on display at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. (Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)

Dhillon was responding to a query on whether the company will follow in the footsteps of the likes of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. and Renault India Pvt Ltd. which had announced that they will not be selling diesel vehicles once BS-VI emission norms come into effect from April 2020 due to vehicle affordability issues.

Audi had earlier too stated that it was driving away from diesel technology as the future is in electric and hybrid vehicles.

“We have to also keep in mind there are other technologies, such as mild hybrids and plug-in hybrids. As we go forward we will also experiment with multiple technologies,” Dhillon added.

Moreover, he said, “The government has allowed us to use certain cars to be imported— 2,500 cars annually—without homologation (conformity with Indian regulations). Those are the space around which we will be playing more and more and see what works for India.”

Asked if Audi could deliver if there was demand from customers for diesel option of its popular SUVs after BS-VI comes into effect, he said, “In the short term, (for) Q7 we don't have diesel. If some customers say we want only diesel, we may not have a solution for them for sometime.”

If somebody asks for a Q7 in diesel on April 1, I have to say no. We are not close to the topic but as of now I will not just say no but will convince the customer to buy petrol.
Balbir Singh Dhillon, Audi India Head 

Dhillon said Audi's decision to drive away from diesel has also to been influenced by changing customer buying behaviour with petrol finding more acceptance.

“At one point of the time the (luxury) industry was almost 100 percent diesel. Barring the sports cars, everything else was diesel. But in the last few years, including the current year, we are already seeing 30-35 percent petrol,” Dhillon said.

“As we go forward, the customers are also very fairly accepting the petrol technology. The customers are more open ended, more favourable or more open minded towards accepting new technologies,” he said.