India, choking on pollution, restricts vehicle use in New Delhi

This ban on diesel engines also creates an environment of uncertainty and will severely impact our expansion plans and future investments put in place for the Indian market.

The court - which said the order would not hit India's "common man" - stopped short of banning the smaller cars that clog India's roads. "We also have to consider the loss of jobs that this will result in at the dealership level, at the vendors producing diesel engines and this will also negatively impact our own workforce".

Supreme Court on Wednesday banned registration of diesel vehicles with engine capacity of 2000 cc and above effective from Jan 1 to March 31, 2016, in the National Capital Region (NCR) which includes Delhi, Noida and Gurgaon.

The court had convened yesterday to hear carmakers' plea against the ban on diesel cars in Delhi and other matters related to the growing air pollution in the nation's capital. But it did also prohibit trucks from passing through the city to reach other states and banned all trucks over 10 years old from the capital. In addition, the court doubled a tax on commercial vehicles carrying goods into Delhi to about $20, for light-duty vehicles and two-axle trucks, and raised the tax to 2,600 rupees for larger trucks. Analysts however say that this move could be detrimental to the automotive industry.

The National Green Tribunal recently ordered an interim ban on the registration of diesel cars in Delhi till the next date of hearing, which is on January 6, 2016.

"We need a national solution to the diesel problem", she said, adding that the government should either equalise the price of petrol and diesel or tax diesel cars at a higher rate until India adopts unified, stricter emission norms. Back in 2001, the Supreme Court had directed all public transport buses to be converted to CNG in order to reduce the level of air pollution.

Mahindra & Mahindra, India's top utility-vehicle maker, was one of the biggest losers with shares down 5.5 percent.

Rivals such as Tata Motors and Toyota Motor Corp, the world's top-selling carmaker, also have popular large cars.

The bar on registration will not apply to existing diesel vehicles.