Delhi diesel ban: Mahindra XUV500 and Scorpio to continue with 1.99-litre engine

New Delhi: Despite the Supreme Court lifting the blanket ban on diesel vehicles in Delhi recently, Mahindra & Mahindra is planning to continue with its 1.99-litre mHawk engine on the Scoprioand XUV500 in the region till the time the ‘dust settles’ on the subject. The company had introduced the new pot after the diesel ban came into action in December last year. Addressing media persons in Delhi on Tuesday, M&M Executive Director Pawan Goenka said, “For the time being we are continuing with 1.99-litre engine for two reasons. First there is no compromise that the customer has for the 1.99-litre engine therefore there is no reason for us to change to 2.2 litre engine." "Second, we don't know what the final judgement would be. Right now it is an interim judgement. So we don't want to go back to 2.2-litre and then when some judgement comes again move to 1.99--litre engine," he added. Nonetheless, the domestic SUV-maker will be ready to shift back to the 2.2-litre powerplants overnight, once there is more clarity on the issue. On the one per cent environment cess that the automakers will now have to pay on every unit of a 2000cc-plus product sold in Delhi, Goenka said that manufacturers had accepted it because they had no option. The cess is not going to make any difference either way as it will not deter the customers from buying a vehicle nor it will help take on pollution in a big way, he said. However, the industry is unanimous in the fight against the cess as it feels that singling out of diesel cars as the only thorn in Delhi’s pollution problems is unfair. "By imposing any kind of cess you are in a sense saying that even if you are meeting the regulations you still need to pay a penalty," he said. Source: cardekho.com