E-Paper
‘Removing 10-15 year old vehicles creates a burden on society’
BENGALURU: Toyota Kirloskar feels the government should not order old vehicles off the roads at one go. The company also backs its decision to invest in a new diesel
BENGALURU: Toyota Kirloskar feels the government should not order old vehicles off the roads at one go. The company also backs its decision to invest in a new diesel engine plant, as it feels Delhi High Court’s ban on diesel vehicles is not based on data. Excerpts from an interview with vice-chairman Vikram Kirloskar:
Why is Toyota is investing in a new Rs 1,100 crore diesel engine plant now, given the ban on their sale in markets like Delhi?
There are some issues in Delhi and they are not based on data. IIT Kanpur has made a study on where the pollution is coming from. If you look at this data it shows that contribution of new diesel cars with engine above 2 litres to the overall pollution it is around 0.14%. The main source of pollution is burning of municipal garbage, tandoor ovens and powdered cement that is mixed on the road etc. All of these contribute up to 98% of the air pollution in Delhi. What people are saying about the carcinogenic effects of diesel engines is not completely proven. If you look at the pollution of diesel against petrol engines, especially when entering Bharat Stage-VI (BS-VI), the carbon dioxide emissions are much lower. The diesel engines we are making at this new plant emit half of what is allowed under BS-IV.
And what about old and polluting diesel vehicles?
If you remove say 10-15 year old cars, it creates a big burden on society. My suggestion is start from the stage when there was no control i.e. around 1998 or 1999. Give six months to remove these stage zero vehicles, after one year move to stage one (BSI) and then to BS-II and BS-III vehicles. This will be palatable to the public. BS-IV vehicles should not be removed as they can last another 10-15 years.
Are you ready to move to BS-VI directly from BS-IV?
We are committed to move to BS-VI directly and we have started the engineering work. The government is saying that the fuel will be available. Toyota will be ready to move to BS-VI directly when the fuel will be ready, which is by 2020. This new engine plant is capable of going to BS-VI with some minor additional investment.
Last month, Toyota overtook Tata in India, making it the No 4 by automaker by sales…
We address only 35% of the market in terms of reach. I don’t think we want to go into the A and B (small-car) segments. We want to make performance vehicles that will last long and maintain the brand (status) in terms of reliability. But can’t these objectives (volumes and quality) co-exist? It is a pricing issue. Toyota does make small cars that are sold in Europe, small only by size but with the feel of a bigger car. These are not suitable for India by price. We have over a million customers in India. Our main objective is to satisfy their requirements. We don’t want to lose our existing customers.
