Indian Environmental Minister Calls Diesel SUVs "Criminal"

While Americans wonder if Mahindra will ever bring its diesel-powered trucks and utes to the US market, its main offerings are coming under attack at home. India’s Environmental Minister Jairam Ramesh put diesel-powered SUVs on blast this week, calling the oil-burning utes “criminal” and telling a UN conference that

We are worried about the rate of green house emissions from transport sector. There is need for mandatory fuel efficiency standards. Big vehicles like SUVs should stay off roads

Minister Ramesh’s plan is two-fold: first, he is calling for an end to India’s subsidy of diesel fuel, arguing that diesel contributes disproportionately to India’s greenhouse gas emissions. The second portion of his plan is more controversial, but should sound familiar to American readers: get rid of those nasty SUVs. Ramesh explains

Put a penalty on the type of cars you don’t want to see on the roads, which are diesel-driven cars, SUVs… We cannot ask people to buy or not buy a particular car. But through an effective fiscal policy, we can certainly have an impact

India’s auto industry insists it’s ready for diesel prices to be cut free, but they’re fighting back against Ramesh’s suggestion of a jihad on SUVs.

One industry expert tells OneIndia

The Minister needs to have some more facts and figure in mind. See in the early 90s when the diesel contribution to the automobile was barely between 3-5 percent, today in 2010 it is almost 37 percent and what are the volumes we are talking of SUVs in that is not more than 2-3 percent… how is that going to help anybody in banning SUVs. Why not ban the entire diesel range– taxis and commercial vehicles — which are running on subsidised diesel?

And Ramesh has already fought off accusations that his anti-diesel campaign would hurt farmers by arguing that

the real beneficiaries of the subsidy were owners of “BMWs, Benzs and Hondas”, not the farmers.

A BMW spokesman fired back, arguing

we meet all stipulated emission standards. To check emissions, the government should come out with a scrappage policy for old vehicles like buses and autos

But, at the end of the day, India faces some tough choices as it seeks to both grow its market for cars and keep its pollution levels down. And if Mahindras can pass the EPA’s emissions tests, the problem does seem to be more with old vehicles than modern diesels. But, as other markets have already found, SUVs make a fantastic scapegoat. Expecting logic to rule in a debate over these polarizing vehicles is more than a little unrealistic.