Mahindra Counters Maruti On Diesel; Unveils BS6 Engines

While Maruti has announced that diesel engines will become nonviable from April 1, 2020, SUV-maker Mahindra’s MD Pawan Goenka announced that they are ready to meet BS6 norms by unveiling its BS6 diesel engines.

Currently, the company has eight diesel engines in its line-up and is upgrading seven of them. The 1.2-litre three-cylinder diesel engine used in KUV100 NXT will be discontinued.

As per the BS6 regulations, the NOx levels have to 68 per cent lower than the BS4 norms. Similarly, particulate matter (PM) has to go down by 82 per cent. Mahindra revealed that it will use lean NOx trap method and turbo-chargers on its smaller 600cc and 900cc diesel engines (used in Supro and Jeeto pickups) to meet the BS6 standards. It will not be using the more expensive urea injection selective catalytic reduction (SCR) method.

Mahindra’s 1.5-litre engines (Bolero, XUV300 and Marazzo) will get diesel particulate filter (DPF) to comply with BS6. Apart from that, the engines in XUV300 and Marazzo will get a urea tank with SCR.

The bigger 2.2-litre engine in the Scorpio and XUV500 will be fitted with SCR and DPF to meet the new norms.

The 30-year-old 2.5-litre diesel engine used in the Bolero commercial range, will also get an upgrade.

The Mahindra MD has confirmed that the new BS6 diesel engines will result in an increase in prices, but will not be substantial as the other manufacturers have claimed.

The company has invested over Rs 1,000 crore in the upgrading process and also filed over 30 patents for the same, according to reports.