Sales of diesel cars have declined in the last four years. Four years back, diesel cars had a share of nearly one in every two cars, but now, it has come down to half of that, which means that out of every four cars sold , only one is diesel-operated.
The narrowing gap in retail fuel prices of petrol and diesel has been one of the most significant reasons behind this trend. The recent action against diesel cars over environmental concerns is another key reason behind demand shifting towards petrol models.
According to numbers from industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, diesel accounted for 26 percent of total car sales in May this year. Four year back, diesel accounted for 52 percent of total car sales.
Industry officials said the trend is expected to continue for some more time. This has prompted more and more companies to introduce petrol variants.