Honda has passionately hated diesel engines. Market pressures in the European markets forced it to develop a 2.2 litre diesel engine which it plonked into various cars such as the Accord (Europe model) and the CR-V. A couple of years ago, Honda had announced that it sees petrol-electric hybrids as the future and also said that it was suspending development of new diesel engines. However, key markets like India and Europe have forced Honda to have a re-look at its diesel engine strategy. In India, diesel engines are preferred for two reasons. One being the cost of diesel being significantly lower than petrol and the other being the greater mileage that diesel engines give compared to petrol engines. In Europe, diesel engines are seen as more environmental friendly (they have highly refined diesel fuel available) and also as being fuel efficient. Moreover, hybrids are yet very expensive and out of the reach of most people and this has a huge impact in countries such as India. Therefore, Honda has developed a 1.6 litre i-Dtec diesel which is likely to find its way in cars such as the Civic. It is also rumoured that Honda is developing diesel engines of even lower cubic capacities for use in cars such as the City and the Jazz. In markets like India, European manufacturers such as Volkswagen and Fiat, Indian manufacturers such as Maruti and Tata and even Korean manufacturer Hyundai have diesel engines powering their various car models. Honda is the only major player which does not have diesel engines for its cars. Honda seems to righting this wrong.
