Diesel cars to corner 50% of car sales in 3 years
Spurred by lower fuel price and higher mileage, the charm for diesel is set to get even stronger with nearly half of new car sales coming from the fuel in the next three-to-four years against the 30% share now, top officials from companies like Maruti and Volkswagen said. Sales of diesel cars have already been growing faster than petrol cars over the last few years and the widening price differential between the two fuels will only add to the trend. Demand for diesel has been very high, prompting companies to look at more and more variants on the fuel, which used to command 23% of overall sales in 2005-06, said Shashank Srivastava, chief GM (sales & marketing) at Maruti Suzuki India . "I expect diesel percentage to be significantly higher than the 30% now. It can be as high as 45-50% over the next three-to-four years," Srivastava said. Experts said the lower running cost on a diesel vehicle (less than half of petrol car), and the government's reluctance to make...