Honda is going to start exporting 1.6-litre diesel engines for the Thailand market. The said engines will be produced at the Tapukara plant in Rajasthan, which currently caters only to the domestic market.
Tapukara currently produces three types of engines for the Indian market - 1.2-litre petrol, 1.5-litre petrol and 1.5-litre diesel. Altogether, the company manufactures around 440 units of these engines every day. However, the capacity of the plant is relatively higher at 730 engines per day, and we can expect some of this capacity to be utilised for the 1.6-litre diesel engine. As of now, Honda has been exporting engine components to 15 countries, although this is the first time the company will ship off diesel engines to a global market.
While Honda’s small cars do get the option of diesel engines, the Accord and the CR-V are currently available only with petrol engines. The commencement of production of 1.6-litre engines could open new avenues for Honda’s premium range. With the brunt of revised GST rates making the Accord Hybrid significantly more expensive, there is a possibility that Honda might introduce a diesel engine in the line-up to keep it competitive. And given that diesel SUVs enjoy higher demand than the petrol-powered counterparts, a similar case can be made for the Honda CR-V.
