JLR Chief Ralf Speth thinks that ban on diesel cars is technologically not justified

Ralf Speth, the chief of Tatas-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), has expressed disappointment over the ban that Supreme Court of India imposed on 2000cc and above diesel SUVs as well as cars in the national capital region. He has said that technologically, the ban is not justified.

Speth stated that there are many aspects in which diesel engines are better than their petrol counterparts. "I am an engineer and I am very disappointed with the ban," he stated.

"I don't understand the rationale behind the ban. All our models are Euro-VI complaint and these vehicles clean the air, and the air they suck in is far dirtier than which comes out of it. If we ban these kinds of vehicles I don't understand it," Speth told PTI. He was interacting with the sidelines of the Auto Expo 2016, which started today.

In order to overcome the ban, JLR would be looking to bring in more petrol variants of its models, as stated by Rohit Suri, president of JLR India. He also added that they already sell petrol variants of the Jaguar XJ, Range Rover Sport.

Today at the auto expo, the company launched two petrol variants of the Jaguar XE. The new model will be assembled at the company’s Pune plant, making it the sixth model which would be assembled in the country.

Speth was also asked about the impact of the slowdown in China, to which he said that 2015 was a very difficult year for the company in the world's largest auto market. He also added that confounding the problem was the heavy loss that it had to suffer, because of the blast at the Tianjin port.

However, he looked hopeful about faster growth in Europe, which has become its largest market in 2015, led by Britain.

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