Current-gen diesel powertrains will be updated to the end of their life cycle but no new oil burners will be developed
The latest stricter emission norms all around the world have proven harsh for diesel powertrains. Many manufacturers have started shifting towards hybrid and pure electric powertrains for future models. In India as well, the largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki has ditched all its diesel-powered models and currently possesses only petrol-powered models.
With emission standards set to be upgraded to even stricter norms in coming years, it is likely to spell doom for diesel engines in global automotive markets. Keeping this in mind, Hyundai has decided to stop developing new diesel powertrains henceforth and will be dumping the current set of diesel units in the years to come.
Way Forward for Hyundai
As per reports, the South Korean auto giant suspended development of new oil burners in the latter half of 2020 and will not launch any new diesel mills in future. The current crop of diesel units will be utilised till the end of their cycles.
This means it will be a while before Hyundai completely discontinued all its diesel-powered models. The company will instead focus on developing new gasoline engines and electric powertrains in future.
Hyundai is currently focussed on introducing more hybrid powertrain to its lineup as pure petrol motors shall also be banned in many markets by the end of this decade. With Euro-7 emission norms set to kick in by 2025, it is suspected to be a death knell for all diesel powertrains. In India as well, emission norms will be much stricter by 2025 which means Hyundai would have to discontinue almost all its diesel models.
The Korean carmaker has announced its plan to introduce twenty-three new electric cars by 2025 and by 2040 it aims to capture 8-10 percent of the EV market globally. It recently revealed Ioniq 5 which is scheduled to go on sale in many international markets from next month.
Currently, Hyundai and Kia offer many diesel models in India. Hyundai offers all its models except Santro with a diesel powertrain option whereas all Kia cars in India including Seltos, Carnival and Sonet offer a diesel engine.
Other manufacturers ditching diesel engines
Many other manufacturers in India and globally have decided to dump their diesel powertrains like Renault, Volkswagen, Skoda and many more. In fact, the German carmaker has decided to stop developing any internal combustion engines (diesel, petrol and CNG) by 2026 and instead it will focus on electric and other cleaner powertrain options. Other manufacturers such as Volvo, FCA and Toyota have also started shifting from diesel to other forms of propulsions.
Experts believe that fully electric and hybrid (petrol and electric combined) powertrains are expected to be the future of next generation of cars in global automotive markets. Some major manufacturers are also betting big on solar-powered and hydrogen-powered vehicles although there are still considerable challenges to overcome.
