Mahindra KUV100 diesel may be discontinued and will come only with a petrol engine. The company will, however, continue selling its bigger diesel engines.
Following suit with Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra too may discontinue their 1.2L diesel engine before the BS-VI emission norms become effective from April, 2020. This 1.2L diesel engine is only offered in the KUV100 NXT. The company will however continue to sell all its bigger diesel engines.
The 1.2L, mFalcon D75 turbocharged, three-cylinder diesel engine produces 78.04 PS of maximum power at 3750 rpm and 190 Nm of peak torque at 1750-2250 rpm. It only came in the KUV100 which has the option of another petrol engine as well and will continue with the petrol engine only.
The 1.2L, mFalcon G80, naturally aspirated, three-cylinder petrol engine in the KUV100 produces 81.94 PS of peak power and 115 Nm of peak torque.
The reason why Mahindra is considering to discontinue this engine is that the cost of upgrading diesel engines to be BS-VI compliant is generally quite high. Also, the KUV100 did not bring many sales through anyway. Being offered in only one model, the high cost of up-gradation does not quite justify for the sales volumes it generates with the KUV100.
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Mahindra’s engine lineup consists of predominantly diesel engines. There’s the bigger 1.5L, 2.0L, and 2.2L diesel engines that does duty in several of its SUVs. All these engines will of course be made BS-VI compliant.
Also, with the enforcement of the BS-VI emission norms, Mahindra is planning to introduce petrol engines in all of its SUVs except for the Bolero. The Mahindra XUV300 which was launched recently also has the option of a petrol engine and it has seen significant demand for itself. Motivated by this, all other SUVs from Mahindra are likely to get petrol engines in the next two years.
Mahindra might soon launch the KUV100 EV in India. It was showcased earlier at the Auto Expo. The EV will be the first one from the manufacturer’s new plan for electric vehicles in India.
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As development costs are getting high for manufacturers to make diesel engines cleaner and more efficient, we might see a gradual phase-out of most diesel engines on the Indian road.
