No Commitment To Biodiesel Vehicles: Mercedes-Benz India

Mercedes-Benz has quashed all reports suggesting that it was working on practical biodiesel solutions for its cars and clarified that it never made any such commitment to the Union transport ministry in the past.

Addressing the media after the ‘My Mercedes, My Service’ programme in India on Tuesday, company MD and CEO Roland Forger said, “We have (had) meetings on several occasions. We talked about a hundred per cent availability of Bharat Stage-VI in all vehicles with him and his people. He must have misunderstood that as introducing bio-diesel, which at the moment, we have no possibility and no attention to do.”

This comes within the space of three months of Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari making contradictory statements on the issue.

“Mercedes has given me a letter that they can use 100% biodiesel in their cars and buses," road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said. He went on to add, "Mercedes India chief has told me that the standards which we have prescribed for biodiesel can be easily used to power their motors,” he had said.  

This refuted move from the German manufacturer was believed to have come after the Supreme Court’s blanket ban on the registration of all diesel vehicles with engine capacity of 2.0-litre and above in the National Capital Region. The brand with the three-pointed star, along with carmakers like Toyota and Mahindra, was among the worst hit by the apex court order.

In the aftermath, Japanese carmaker Toyota is reportedly holding back all new investments in India. Mercedes, interestingly, is still pursuing its plans for the country without much alteration. After launching ‘15 (cars) in 2015,’ it looks all set to roll out around a dozen this year too.