If there was one company in India that had a diesel BS-VI car in its portfolio when the upcoming norms were announced, it was Mercedes-Benz India. As early as last year, the company announced its flagship S-Class with a BS-VI diesel. Moreover, within a short period of time, the company also got in many more BS-VI diesel models thereby cementing its position. However, given the disparity and a cloud of doubt over the future of diesel engines, we caught up with the new CEO and MD, Mercedes-Benz India, Martin Schwenk to ask him how things will pan out. Martin said that these diesel engines are far less polluting than even a conventional petrol for that matter. Mercedes-Benz India will remain bullish on its diesel engine portfolio here. He further added that the fuel economy of these diesel engines too is much higher than before thereby negating the additional cost. The example of the new BS-VI E-Class was given as it is claimed to be 20 per cent more fuel efficient than before, Martin elaborated that the CO2 emissions are far lower too and it is something that is difficult to achieve with a petrol.
Mercedes-Benz India recently introduced the diesel G-Class in India. This is the first time in the company’s history here that a diesel G-Class has been introduced. The vehicle is priced at Rs 1.50 crore and bookings have already started. It comes in as a CBU. More than 80 per cent of Mercedes’ India vehicles that have a diesel engine are now BS-VI compliant. The norms kick in from April 2019. Martin was quite positive about the response for the diesel G. He says that customers buy the G-wagen because of its off-roading and go-anywhere capability. However, most of them still prefer staying on the road, watching the G make a mincemeat of our shoddy road conditions.
