Tata Motors Opposes CAFE Exemptions for Small Petrol Cars, Warns of Safety and Sustainability Risks

Tata Motors has called upon the government to refrain from granting exemptions to small petrol vehicles under the proposed Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) standards, adding that such relaxations could undermine the drive towards cleaner technologies and vehicle safety, news agency PTI has reported.

In correspondence to the PMO, as per the report, the carmaker stated that permitting concessions for petrol vehicles weighing up to 909 kg, with engine capacity not exceeding 1,200 cc and length under 4,000 mm, would dilute the focus on the adoption of sustainable technologies. The company highlighted that India has begun witnessing results from policies supporting newer technologies, with electric vehicle (EV) adoption in passenger cars reaching nearly 5 per cent.

"Granting relaxations or exemptions for petrol vehicles in this category may result in diluting the focus on adoption of sustainable technologies," Tata Motors said in the letter addressed to Shaktikanta Das at the PMO, as per the PTI report.

Tata Motors cautioned that exemptions based on vehicle weight could encourage manufacturers to reduce weight at the expense of safety features.

"Relaxations based on vehicle weight may inadvertently incentivise OEMs to reduce weight at the cost of essential safety features, undoing progress made in vehicle safety over the past few years," the company said.

The manufacturer added that creating special categories of cars for CAFE concessions would run counter to efforts to promote zero-emission technologies and maintain a level playing field.

"We humbly request the government to not create any special category of cars based on size or weight for the purpose of providing concessions in CAFE," the letter said.