Mercedes-Benz to only launch BS-VI compliant diesel cars from now on in India
On the sidelines of the launch of the new Mercedes-AMG S63 Coupe, Mercedes-Benz announced that all new diesel models that the company launches henceforth in India will be BS-VI compliant.
The company started this practice with the facelifted S-Class launched earlier this year. Like this S350d, all of Mercedes' BS-VI diesel cars will be compatible with regular BS-IV available in pumps. The government mandated deadline for the shift to BS-VI is April 2020.
The company already sells BS-VI compliant petrol cars in the country. Speaking on the sidelines of this event, Michael Jopp, Mercedes-Benz India VP sales and marketing, said that these diesel cars will see a price hike given the cost of the new technology. The company is yet to work out the exact details of the price increase for future models. He also said that this is an important move for his company, given that 75% of all cars sold by Mercedes-Benz in India are diesel.
Over the last few years, Mercedes-Benz has been able to strengthen its position in the country after a lull of sorts. The company is aggressive with its product launches and seems to be able to position it's products correctly. This helps it stay ahead of competitors who also have similarly high-quality cars in their portfolio.