NEW DELHI: It’s a straight fight between the Japanese power duo of Maruti Suzuki-Toyota who are pitted against the might of the rest of the car industry over the soon-to-be-announced CAFE 3 emission norms.A large section of India’s car industry huddled in a meeting with Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday, sans Maruti, Toyota Kirloskar, and French Renault, as they “complained” about the aggressive charge spearheaded by the Japanese companies to push for creation of an all-new mini car category that will have vehicles under the weight of 909 kgs.The hush-hush meeting with Gadkari, late on Monday evening, was attended by a bevy of Indian and multinational carmakers that included local heavyweights Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra, apart from the Korean siblings Hyundai and Kia, as well as JSW MG Motor.Ahead of the announcement of a final regulation on the new CAFE3 emission norms that will lay the roadmap for industry emissions from April 2027, the companies are “worried” that creation of a new light-weight mini segment — where 95% of vehicles are from the Maruti stable — will lead to having “architecturally unsafe cars” on the Indian roads while also disrupting their investment and new products plans, sources in the know told TOI. “This will be an aberration and will lead to creation of a completely unsafe car category as none of the existing vehicles in this so-called light-weight category have received adequate safety ratings by global agencies. Also, what is the logic of giving an easier emission target to this special category which unfairly benefits only one particular company,” the company representatives said in the meeting with Gadkari.Questions sent to Maruti Suzuki did not elicit a response.The joint representation of the companies said that any change in India’s vehicle classification rules, especially based on weight, will only end up disturbing their product and investment plans. “Our investment plans will be disrupted if the govt creates a new mini category on the lines of weight of a vehicle against the currently well-defined vehicle class of small cars,” the companies told the Minister.Currently, the lowest rung in car classification is made of “small cars” which are vehicles that are under 4 meters in length and have petrol engines below 1200cc and diesel under 1500cc. “This is the classification which is also used for GST purposes, and we are building our investments and plans based on this. What is the need for creating an all-new ‘random’ light-weight category of 909 kgs and below which doesn’t exist anywhere else across the world.”The Minister told the companies to submit a representation on the matter even as the players have approached other ministries, including the Ministry of Heavy Industries, as well as the Ministry of Power.
