Sales of diesel-run cars to slowdown in coming months

The sales figures of diesel variants of popular cars in India, which have been showing an upward trend until recently, is expected to witness a decrease in coming month as the govt has decided to hike the price of fuel in the country. The major contributor to this expected decrease in the demand for diesel run cars is the narrowing down gap between petrol and diesel prices, due to which many prospective buyers of diesel variants are now moving towards petrol versions. While exactly four years back in June 2006, the gap between petrol and diesel price was around Rs 15 in national capital, the current difference between both of these fuels is only Rs 11.56.

According to Mr Ankush Arora, vice-president (sales & marketing), General Motors India, if the price of diesel moves up again and comes further closer to petrol, there would certainly be a shift in buying behavior as people would prefer to opt more for petrol vehicles. He was speaking to a leading business news daily in India, Mr Arora added that the shift could be immediate in small cars where monthly fuel bills is an important factor in purchasing decisions.

In the last few years, the demand for diesel run cars has been increased by a considerably good margin. At present, the diesel run cars accounts for the 30-35% of the total sales of the country, as against an estimated figure of 20-25% in the year 2007.

However, the diesel variants of popular cars in India like Maruti Swift, Skoda Fabia, Ford Fiesta and Maruti Swift Dzire are still attracting a higher number of buyers as compare to their petrol counterparts. While on the contrary, the petrol versions of recently rolled-out new cars in the Indian market like Ford Figo, Volkswagen Polo, Hyundai i20 and Maruti Ritz are giving a neck to neck fight to their diesel counterparts.