Honda finally ready to burn diesel
Honda has always known that the missing diesel engine in its lineup was a stumbling block. The intensifying price gap between petrol and diesel has only added more gravity to this situation. But after years of apprehension about Indian diesel quality and what not, Honda will have a diesel in its line sometime early next year. The genesis of this lies in the cutaway of the Earth Dreams Technology engine which was part of Honda's stall at Geneva. This 1.6-litre four-cylinder diesel is rated at 120PS, employs a high-efficiency turbocharger and aims to produce less than 100gm/km of CO2. The engine will debut under the hood of the diesel Civic in Europe later this year - that car has been powered by the 2.2-litre i-DTEC engine until now.
This engine will debut in the Indian Civic in 2013 before smaller versions of this engine, down to a possibly three-cylinder 1.2- or a 1.3-litre will take their places across the Honda lineup, all the way down (and particularly) to the Brio. The engine will be manufactured in India to keep pricing competitive and arrest Honda's declining market share which has been affected by increasing competition (armed with diesel engines) and supply issues due to natural disasters in Japan and Thailand.