Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI), the Indian distributor of Honda Motor, is planning to introduce an all-new diesel engine which will be available in a future mid-sized sedan. It will be more fuel efficient than the petrol equivalent, helping motorists in India combat rising petrol prices.
Reports say the new engine will be around 1.5 litres in capacity and become available in a mid-sized sedan, potentially the Honda City. The unit may also make its way into other Honda models such as the Honda Jazz. A larger 2.2-litre engine is also rumoured to be in the pipeline for future models in India, such as the Honda CRV diesel – a package that is currently available in Europe.
Honda is hoping the new variant will help the brand provide a better package to rival equivalent models in the country’s market, most of which are available with a diesel powerplant. Mr Inaba from HSCI recently said that the “introduction of diesel model is not the only option to grow in India. We are planning to expand our network into smaller cities as well.”
CarAdvice spoke with Melissa Cross of Honda Australia about the possibilities of a diesel powerplant coming to Australia. Unfortunately, she couldn’t provide any details on a possible local market launch.
It does make you wonder though, what is taking Honda Australia so long to bring out diesel versions of its cars? The Honda Accord Euro DTEC and CRV diesel are both available in Europe. With this smaller sub-2.0-litre diesel variant, Honda certainly has to potential and the technology to succeed in this category Down Under.
No official fuel consumption or emission figures have been announced yet, but the new 1.5-litre engine is sure to present superior fuel consumption and emission figures compared with petrol-powered rivals.