Honda Cars India sells 1 lakh+ cars with 1.5-litre i-DTEC diesel engine

Honda Cars India Ltd. (HCIL) has delivered more than one lakh cars equipped 1.5L i-DTEC diesel engine in India till date. Introduced in April 2013 with Honda Amaze, the 1.5L i-DTEC is the only diesel engine available in the country from the Japanese auto major's stable. Other than Amaze, the diesel mill also powers the new City sedan and recently launched Mobilio MPV.

Announcing the new milestone, Mr. Jnaneswar Sen, Senior Vice President, Marketing & Sales, Honda Cars India Ltd said, “The 1.5L i-DTEC diesel engine was Honda’s first step into the diesel market and we have come out with exceptional results. The i-DTEC diesel engine revolutionized the diesel engine technology by offering outstanding fuel efficiency & amazing power delivery. It has been well accepted in the country and is attracting new customers to the Honda brand every day. The 100,000 sales of i-DTEC powered cars is a major milestone for us and we are really proud of this achievement.”

Honda retailed more than 11,000 units of City and Amaze in the previous month, with the major chunk of sales coming from the diesel variants, equipped with the same 100 PS-1.5 litres i-DTEC unit. With an ARAI tested mileage of 26 kmpl, City is the most fuel efficient car in the country. While the company's Amaze and Mobilio delivers 25.8km/l and 24.5km/l respectively with the same engine under the hood.

According to the company, “the 1.5L i-DTEC diesel engine has been developed exclusively for India considering Indian driving conditions and is based on the Honda’s latest ‘Earth Dreams Technology’”. The engine has an all aluminum cylinder head that is joined to an open-deck engine block. This is the lightest engine amongst the engines with similar torque generating configuration. The use of a lightweight crankshaft and a number of friction-reduction technologies have helped reduce frictional losses in this diesel engine to near petrol engine levels and achieve greater cooling effectiveness, enabling fuel efficiency improvements.

Read More on : 2014 Honda Amaze