M&M looks to petrol engines for succour
CHANGE OF HEART Diesel-focussed company modifies strategy on green tribunal ban, waning fuel price gap
India’s largest utility vehicle manufacturer, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), is developing a range of petrol engines with an aim to offer petrol variants for all its products within the next five years.
At present, none of the company’s vehicles comes with a petrol engine. The development of four engines with capacities of 1.2, 1.5, 1.6 and 2 litres, a signal shift from a diesel-only profile. The increasing restrictions on diesel cars such as the ban on 10-yearold diesel vehicles in Delhi by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), and a general slide in demand for diesel cars due to decreasing price difference compared to petrol, has prompted the company’s change of heart.
The first of these engines to hit the road would be the 1.2litre powertrain being developed jointly with Korean subsidiary Ssang Yong Motors, and will be used in the upcoming S101 compact SUV, which will be launched later this fiscal. Mahindra’s recent launch TUV 300 may also get the same engine. The company did not divulge the investment, but around ` 500 crore is generally spent in developing a new series of engines.
“There is a bit of uncertainty with diesel vehicles due to problems with the NGT ban, and it may get more difficult to sell diesel vehicles because of restrictions through taxes or bans that we are seeing. So, we need a petrol strategy and are developing four engines, some in-house and others with Ssang Yong,” said Pawan Goenka, president, automotive and farm equipment divisions, M&M. “Our next compact SUV S101 will come with a petrol engine and in five years all our vehicles will have petrol versions. This will insulate us from the uncertainties of fuel prices as well.”
The company did launch a petrol version of its SUV Scorpio back in 2002, but it was discontinued in 2005 due to lack of demand. The two-litre engine that was borrowed from French car maker Renault, was deemed sluggish and scored low on fuel economy.
M&M is not the only company that has had a change of heart. Tata Motors is also developing a range of turbocharged petrol engines under the Revotron banner, the first of which was launched with the Zest sedan a year ago. “We are a leader in diesel technology, but now it is time to look at petrol engines,” Tim Leverton, president, engineering research centre, Tata Motors had said in January. “We need a full range and are working towards it.”