Toyota Fortuner has the highest percentage of diesel sales, among its compatriots which have both petrol and diesel powertrains as options
With the advent of stricter emission norms in India and worldwide, the feasibility of diesel powertrain has been in serious discussions. This has also led to a decline in popularity of diesel cars in international. But there are still consumers who prefer diesel over petrol. Here are the top 10 diesel cars sold in India for Feb 2021.
Creta, Innova Lead the list
Among the top ten diesel cars sold in India in February 2021, five of them exceeded their petrol-powered variants while three are not yet offered with a petrol powertrain. A total of 36,602 units of top ten selling diesel cars were sold last month. The list was headed by Hyundai Creta which recorded sales of 7,558 units of diesel-powered variants.
In comparison, the Korean auto giant sold only 4,870 petrol-powered units of Creta. This means the diesel share stands at 60.81 percent. Toyota Innova is mainly known for its diesel powertrain as only 132 petrol units of the MPV were sold last month as opposed to 5,886 diesel-powered variants. It had a share of 97.81 percent sales of diesel variants.
Bolero, Scorpio, Sonet shows strong numbers
The third spot was taken by Mahindra’s best seller Bolero which recorded sales of 4,843 units. The MUV is not available in a petrol engine and only comes in one diesel engine option. Similar is the case with its sibling Scorpio which also has no petrol powertrain on offer and took the fourth spot as it recorded sales of 3,532 units last month.
Scorpio was followed by Kia Sonet as it sold 3,397 diesel-powered units of the UV last month which is less than the 4,600 units of petrol variants sold. This means a share of 42.48 percent in diesel models.
Thar, Fortuner outdo their petrol counterparts
Sonet was followed by its elder sibling Kia Seltos which recorded sales of 3,150 diesel models as compared to 5,155 petrol models. This translates to a diesel share of 37.93 percent. The seventh spot was occupied by Mahindra Thar which recorded sales of 2,228 units of diesel-powered units as compared to only 614 petrol-powered units. This translated to 78.40 percent share of diesel models.
Toyota Fortuner which was recently given a facelift registered a sale of 2,030 diesel-powered units in February 2021. In comparison, the Japanese carmaker sold a paltry 23 diesel-powered units of the premium full-size SUV.
| Top 10 Diesel Cars | Feb 21 Sales Diesel | Feb 21 Sales Petrol | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Creta | 7,558 | 4,870 | 12,428 |
| 2. Innova | 5,886 | 132 | 6,018 |
| 3. Bolero | 4,843 | 0 | 4,843 |
| 4. Scorpio | 3,532 | 0 | 3,532 |
| 5. Sonet | 3,397 | 4,600 | 7,997 |
| 6. Seltos | 3,150 | 5,155 | 8,305 |
| 7. Thar | 2,228 | 614 | 2,842 |
| 8. Fortuner | 2,030 | 23 | 2,053 |
| 9. Harrier | 2,030 | 0 | 2,030 |
| 10. EcoSport | 1,948 | 1,223 | 3,171 |
| Total | 36,602 | 16,617 | 53,219 |
Tata Harrier joined Fortuner with the exact same number of diesel models sold last month. The mid-size SUV from the homegrown manufacturer is only offered in a diesel powertrain although a petrol option is also expected to be offered soon.
The list was rounded up by Ford EcoSport as it was only the second subcompact crossover to make the cut with a sale of 1,848 petrol models against 1,223 petrol models last month. This resulted in 61.43 percent of diesel share.
