Come April 1, 2023, the Government of India will roll out the more stringent BS6 emissions norms. Also known as Real Driving Emissions or RDE norms, under the new regime, car manufacturers will be required to show real-time emissions data of their vehicles. However, not all OEMs are entirely ready to meet the RDE norms, and several carmakers have already said that some of their models will be discontinued. In fact, some have already been discontinued.
Renault was one of the first OEMs to update its entire line-up to comply with the upcoming RDE norms. However, the Kwid’s 800 cc version did not make the cut and has already been discontinued. In its stead, the company recently launched a new entry-level RXE variant of the Kwid which is priced at Rs. 4.69 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).
Honda Cars India too has silently stopped the sale of the Amaze diesel and removed it from the company’s official website. In fact, last year, the company said that its 1.5-litre diesel engine (which powers the Amaze as well) will not the ready to meet the new emissions norms and given the fact that the demand for the petrol model is much higher, the diesel model could be discontinued.
Additionally, Honda is also expected to stop production of the WR-V along with the Gen 4 City and Jazz by March 2023 likely to make room for newer products. These are expected to include a new compact and sub-compact SUV for the market.
As for Hyundai India, the Korean carmaker is soon expected to discontinue the sale of the i20 diesel. The company has already discontinued the diesel variants of the Grand i10 Nios and the Aura subcompact sedan, and the company’s premium hatchback will be the next one to drop its diesel variants.
Maruti Suzuki India might also be discontinuing a few models which will not meet the new RDE norms. While the company has not announced any names, we believe that the Alto 800, the Ignis and the Ciaz could be some of the models that will no longer be on sale post April 2023.
Ever since Mahindra decided to sell its ownership stake in the loss-making Korean SUV brand SsangYong, the fate of the Alturas G4 has been unclear, mainly because it’s essentially a rebadged version of the latter’s Rexton SUV. In fact, in December 2022 the company did not sell one single unit of its flagship SUV. But now, with the imminent arrival of the RDE norms, the company has officially discontinued the Alturas G4 in India.
Nissan India too is expected to discontinue the Kicks compact SUV by April 1, 2023. In fact, we have been expecting this from Nissan ever since its partner brand Renault discontinued the Duster compact SUV back in February 2022. Now, with the new stringent emission norms coming in Nissan is likely to pull the plug on the Kicks soon. The company is also planning to bring in a host of new products to the Indian market, including the new-gen Nissan X-Trial.
Skoda Auto India will also be discontinuing the Octavia and Superb sedans by April 2023. Both models currently come to India via the CKD (completely knocked down) route and are assembled at the company plant in India.
