The Fiat 1.3L MJD engine has powered as many as 24 different compact diesel cars in India and is rightfully called the National Diesel Engine of India but the BS6 norms bring an end to its life.
The BS6 emission norms have come into effect from April 1, 2020 and with it, a lot of diesel engines have been discontinued from the market. Out of all those engines, there’s one particular engine that really stood out for us and that is Fiat’s 1.3-litre MJD engine. This engine from Fiat has powered cars from the Maruti Suzuki Swift and Dzire to even the Fiat Punto.
In fact, the 1.3L MJD engine has powered most compact diesel cars in India in entire of the last decade. The torque-ey and efficient nature made it very popular among Indian audience. Fiat sold the engine in two states of tune in India – a 75bhp version and a 90bhp version. You would know this engine by its more popular names like DDiS (called by Maruti) and Quadrajet (as called by Tata).
The 75bhp version had a torque output of 190Nm while the 90bhp version had 200Nm of peak torque. And it came in as early as 2000rpm which meant you never really had to work the engine hard. It was also quite refined too. FCA introduced the 1.3 MJD engine in 2003 and just two years later it was awarded the ‘International Engine of the Year’ by UK journalists. It has powered as many as 24 different cars in India. Towards the end of its lifetime, Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza and S-Cross were only powered by this engine. Both these models have however now switched to petrol.
In fact, both Tata and Maruti have already developed their own diesel engines. Maruti has a 1.5L DDiS engine which they will likely update to comply with the BS6 norms sometime in 2021 if the brand sees demand for the same. Tata on the other hand also have a 1.5L diesel engine which they are currently offering on the Altroz and the Nexon.
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With the discontinuation of the 1.3L MJD engine and several other diesel engines from the market, we wonder how the Indian car buyer will react to these changes. India has predominantly been a diesel market with just Maruti selling as many as 4 lakh diesel cars in FY2019 alone. Of course, the cost involved in updating this engine to BS6 compliance would have been significant and it anyway would have driven customers away. Fiat had announced well ahead of the time that they will not be updating the engine to BS6. Fiat has however updated the Multijet-II diesel engine for BS6 compliance.
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The last of these 1.3L MJD engines left the production line on January 23. Just over 8 lakh units were built and fitted to several cars that became favourites in the country. It had even earned itself the name of ‘National Diesel Engine’ of the country and rightfully. Fiat has however said that spare parts will be available for the next ten years.
