Mahindra & Mahindra to continue selling 1.99 ltr engine SUVs in Delhi/NCR
NEW DELHI: Home grown auto major Mahindra
& Mahindra (M&M) will continue selling XUV500 and Scorpio with 1.99 litre engine in Delhi/NCR till the
"dust settles" after the Supreme Court order lifting the ban on 2,000
cc and above diesel vehicles earlier this month.
Hit by the Supreme Court ban in December, the
Mumbai-based automaker had launched a 1.99 litre version of its mHawk engine
series earlier this year.
The apex court
however lifted the ban earlier this month, though with one per cent environment
cess.
"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," M&M Executive Director Pawan
Goenka told reporters here.
"Second, we don't know what the final
judgement would be (SC on 2,000 cc and above diesel vehicles). 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 said.
He was
talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of 56th Annual Session of the
Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA).
If need be,
the company could move to 2.2 litre engine overnight, Goenka said.
"Till
the dust settles, we can make a decision if we want to continue with the 1.99
litre engine or go back back to 2.2 litre one," Goenka said.
On whether
the one per cent environment cess imposed by the Supreme Court will have any
impact, Goenka said: "This is one subject where the industry is fully
aligned. Industry is unanimous that there is no justification to single out
diesel for pollution problem in Delhi."
"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
added.
One per cent 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.
"This is
a sort of interim decision the apex court has taken and industry has agreed
because it is better have one per cent cess than not to be able to sell
products. So we had no option but to accept this suggestion and move on with
it," Goenka said.
When asked if the
company would like this cess to be abolished going ahead, Goenka said:
"Off course yes.
" M&M is also looking to reworking strategies for
its two- wheeler business as it has not been able to achieve desired success in
the vertical so far.
"Two-wheeler
has not given us what we expected it to deliver but we are still working on it,
we have not given up on two-wheeler segment by any stretch of imagination. The
strategy with what we started has not delivered. We are working on a new
strategy," Goenka said.
Source: Mahindra
& Mahindra to continue selling 1.99 ltr engine SUVs in Delhi/NCR