Well, we have been seeing this trend of people’s changing shift to Diesel powered cars and now the figures revealed by Times of India confirms this by figures.
In December 2011, Diesel cars crossed the percentage share of 50 percent (stood at 53.2%) and while the total Diesel sales have remained consistent, the overall market has increased which has led to a slight decline to 49 percent. This slight decline has to be attributed to the big time discounts thrown at the user for Petrol cars to maintain their sales.
Another revelation is that during this fiscal till now (ie from April 2011 till February 2012), sales of petrol cars have declined by as much as 15 percent while Diesel-run cars enjoyed merry at 35 percent increase.
Reasons for this shift:
- Price Difference between these two fuels: The primemost reason for this shift is the huge price difference that has cropped up between Diesel and Petrol’s prices since the time Petrol was deregulated last year. This difference between these two fuels is as much as Rs 25-30 at various cities of India.
- Diesels are more fuel-efficient: When we compare models of a same car, we understand that fuel efficiency returned by a diesel vehicle is more. For example, Ritz petrol returns something around 13-14 kmpl in cities whereas Ritz Diesel runs for 16-17 kms for every liter of Diesel.
- Diesel’s dependency: Majority of commercial vehicles which transport various goods run on diesel. Even a little increase in price of diesel has a cascading effect on the price of all regular consumable commodities and hence it is assumed by a common man that in times to come diesel’s rate hikes would always be lower than that of Petrol which is now deregulated.
Due to the above mentioned reasons, a generic car buyer is ready to pay a premium of (on an average) around 1 Lakh for a diesel car when the same variant’s petrol is available cheaper. With the budget not talking about the dreaded extra levy on diesel, this shift is expected to grow at a faster pace. All the major sellers have big waiting periods for diesel cars whereas a petrol car is almost available off the shelf.
By,
Saad Khan
Editor MotorBash
Figures Source: TimesofIndia
