More and more people are opposed to the introduction of CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency) emission II regulations in India from April 2022. The latest launch comes from RC Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki India, a leader in the country’s passenger car market.

• Negative growth in the automotive industry during COVID-19

• SIAM urges postponement to April 2024

• The CAFE specification is effective from April 1, 2017

“The timing of implementation is wrong”: RC Bhargava

RC Bhargava, Chairman of Maruti Suzuki, said in an interview with PTI: “I don’t think it is the right time to (implement) the new phase of CAFE regulations. Over the years, the price of cars has been rising. Now the price has risen too high for people to buy. Starting from the car, so the growth of this industry has dropped to zero. In order to further increase costs, especially when people’s income does not increase during the epidemic, the industry will further decline.”

“Customers can’t buy (cars) at the same rate now because their affordability has declined. Sales of two-wheelers are growing because people can only afford two-wheelers,” Bargava added.

The chairman of Maruti Suzuki pointed out that even before the pandemic hit, the domestic auto industry had been slowing down.

“SIAM did a study. Until 2010, the annual growth rate of the Indian auto industry was 12.9%. From 2010-2015, it dropped to 5.7%, and from 2015-20, which was before Covid, it dropped to 1.3%. During Covid, it became negative,” Bargava said.

CAFÉ Specification Phase Two: Overview

In March 2021, Minister of Transport Nitin Gadkari discussed with the SIAM (Indian Automobile Manufacturers Association) delegation to postpone the implementation of CAFE Phase II regulations. The delegation urged that the implementation of CAFE Phase II regulations be postponed until April 20241 day. SIAM stated that the domestic auto industry is still recovering from the impact of COVID-19 and slowing consumer demand. Top industry organizations have not received any news from the government on whether the CAFE Phase II April 2022 plan will be postponed.

The term “Corporate Average” in CAFE refers to the weighted average of automakers’ sales. The CAFE standard applies to vehicles that use gasoline, diesel, CNG and LPG.

The CAFE specification took effect in India on April 1, 2017. In the first phase (2017-2022), CAFE regulations require that the average carbon dioxide emissions of enterprises be less than 130 g/km by 2022. At the same time as BS6, in order to meet CAFE goals, manufacturers need to find efficient and clean power system options. In the second phase (after 2022)-this limit is reduced to below 113 g/km, and may be further tightened to 108 or 104 g/km.

See also:

Nitin Gadkari urges automakers to launch flexible-fuel vehicles within a year

The automotive industry is preparing for the second stage of BS6, but the cost of vehicles has risen