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CHENNAI, Oct. 10

HYUNDAI Motor India Ltd today launched the CRDi - Common Rail Direct Injection - diesel engine Accent.

The CRDi diesel engine, which is supposed to combine the performance and handling of a petrol engine with the fuel efficiency of a diesel engine, has been developed by Hyundai Motor Company, South Korea, in association with Detroit Diesel, US.

Detroit Diesel is an associate company of DaimlerChrysler, which has a stake in Hyundai Motor Co. Hyundai Motor India will be importing the CRDi engines from its parent company.

Mr J.I. Kim, Managing Director, Hyundai Motor India, told a press conference on the occasion of the launch of the Accent CRDi that the latest diesel engine variant of the Accent was yet another market defining product and the company expected the Accent CRDi to significantly alter the market dynamics. The Accent CRDi was priced at Rs 7,23,261 ex-showroom in Chennai.

According to a company press release, the CRDi engine does away with high noise, vibrations, poor drive quality and particle pollutants - all common problems associated with conventional diesel engines.

Working on a patented `direct injection' technology, the CRDi engine has "rails" that inject pressurised fuel directly into the engine thereby improving engine efficiency and reducing noise and vibrations. The CRDi also electronically controls engine pressure, fuel quantity and injection timing to deliver better fuel efficiency and lower Nox and particulate emissions.

Following the launch of the CRDi Accent, Hyundai Motor India has phased out the TUD5 Peugeot diesel engines, which had been provided in the Accent diesel cars earlier, according to Mr B.V.R. Subbu, President. (It must be recalled that Maruti Udyog Ltd recently launched a diesel version of the Esteem with the TUD5 engine.)

According to Mr Subbu, the company hoped to produce about 400 Accent CRDi cars a month. The Accent CRDi had an overall localisation level of over 70 per cent.

To a question, Mr Subbu said the company did not have plans right now to launch its popular small car, Santro, with a CRDi diesel engine. This financial year, Hyundai Motor India planned to sell 1,02,000 cars and achieve a turnover of Rs 4,000 crore.

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