The pollution control has brought about some very serious business and investment decisions in automobile industry in India. In December, 2015 the Supreme Court issued an order a ban on the registration of diesel vehicles over 2000cc in Delhi. The Supreme Court converted this temporary order to an indefinite one in the national capital.
Companies can only hope that the apex court comes around with a law that is better suited for the industry. But for the time being the only option for these companies is to adapt. Mahindra has already found a way around the stoppage with the introduction of 1.99-litre engines, and one can only expect that Mercedes Benz adapts as well.
The German luxury automaker has planned to introduce petrol iterations of all the models in its Indian line-up by September.
Roland Folger, Managing Director and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India, said, “We will be complete with petrol engines in September. Then we will have basically a petrol variant in each of our carlines available. It was a decision we made in the middle of last year.” He also said, “Ten years ago roughly we had only petrol engines so it’s not that unusual for us. It gives customer a choice it is not so much about new segment really.”