A key player in the National Capital Region (NCR), ToyotaIndia is among the worse-affected automakers due to the ongoing ban on registration of new diesel vehicles with engine capacity of over 2000cc. The ban, which was first imposed on December 16, 2015 until March 31, was later pushed to April 30, 2016, in a bid to bring the pollution levels down in the NCR.
As per the latest hearing held on April 30, the court has extended the prohibition till the next hearing that is scheduled for May 9. Expectedly, the ban has left several manufacturers in huge trouble with regards to sales efforts. While the guys over at Mahindra have cheekily downsized the engine capacity for their cars to make them applicable for sale in the NCR, Toyota India is yet to counter the ban which has ultimately terminated sales of the Fortuner and the newly launched Innova Crysta. The latter, launched yesterday, cannot be sold in the NCR for now.
Nevertheless, Toyota India is now hoping that the Supreme Court will lift the ban in the next hearing of 9th May. Now that it’s been over four months since the ban on registration of 2-litre plus diesel vehicles, it remains to be seen as to how the Supreme Court plans to take it forward. It will also be interesting to see whether the court can report any change in the overall pollution levels as auto industry body SIAM on Friday recently revealed that any such ban will not objectively reduce pollution and will only ridicule diesel technology and cars.
