According to the latest details available, Tata Motors has decided to retain their 1.5-litre and above diesel engines even after the BSVI emission norms comes into effect from April 1 next year, though, the brand is yet to confirm the future of its 1.2-litre diesel engines. Disregarding the several rumours of axing the Tata Hexa due to the implementation of BS6, the brand has confirmed that the MPV will be getting a BS6 update in the coming months.
Since Maruti Suzuki has decided to axe the production of its diesel cars from next year, Tata Motors has decided to take a complicated road. The brand believes that the cost of paying INR 1.00-1.50 lakh extra for the big diesel engine cars can be easily accommodated with increased efficiency and overall low maintenance cost as compared to the petrol engines. The brand is still evaluating whether the smaller diesel engines will be beneficial for the customers after the implementation of BSVI norms or not.
Commenting on the continuation of big diesel engines, SN Barman, Vice-President, Sales, Marketing and Customer Support, Tata Motors, states: “My strong belief is that for the bigger diesel cars (1.5-litre engine and above), there is no alternative. If you look at the fuel efficiency per se (for engines above 1.5 litres), it is substantially lower for petrol engines than diesel engines. The running cost of the petrol engine in the bigger cars is always going to be higher than the diesel engine. It makes more sense to have diesel engines during the BS-VI regime as well because one can always recover the additional cost of ₹1-1.5 lakh.”
To recall your memory, the Tata Hexa is powered by a 2.2-litre diesel engine that offers a max power of 150HP and a peak torque of 320 Nm for its base variant. The engine is mated to a 5-speed manual transmission. The high spec trims of Tata Hexa further offers a maximum power of 156HP and 400 Nm of peak torque. The brand offers an optional 6-speed manual gearbox and an automatic gearbox for the top-level trims.
