“Air our cars suck in Delhi dirtier than what they emit,” says JLR CEO Dr Ralph Speth

In a strong criticism of the ban on sale of high-end diesel-engined passenger car sales in Delhi-NCR, the Tata Motors-owned luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover's CEO Dr Ralph Speth has said the air sucked in by its latest technology vehicles on Delhi roads is "far dirtier" than what they emit.

"The latest EU 6 regulation schemes have got technical features, which (can) clean the air in Delhi. These kind of vehicles drive like a hoover... the air they suck in is far dirtier than the air which comes out of it," CEO of the UK-based Jaguar Land Rover Ralph Speth told PTI on the sidelines of the Auto Expo 2016.

Jaguar Land Rover is among the automobile companies hit hard by the Supreme Court order in December last year banning registration of diesel-engined SUVs and cars above 2000cc in the entire National Capital Region till March 31, 2016.

Lashing out at the order, Dr Speth said: "If you ban these kind of vehicles, I don't understand. Sorry, it is over my horizon."

He said if the aim is to reduce pollution and improve air quality, then a comprehensive measure has to be taken, including banning of old cars and controlling other sources of pollution and "not just come up with a single solution, exactly with wrong advice and wrong technology".

Expressing disappointment at the Supreme Court order, Dr Speth said: "I am an engineer. It (the order) has nothing to with market and nothing to do with anything. What triggered such a decision from a technology point of view? From a technological point of view, this kind of decision is unreasonable."

To overcome the ban, JLR is looking at introducing more petrol-engined variants of its different models. The company is already selling petrol variants of the Jaguar XJ and Range Rover Sport. It has also launched two petrol variants of the new Jaguar XE.