buffer-file-coding-system

buffer-file-coding-system is a variable defined in `C source code'.
Its value is

utf-8-unix

• Automatically becomes buffer-local when set.

Documentation:
Coding system to be used for encoding the buffer contents on saving.
This variable applies to saving the buffer, and also to `write-region'
and other functions that use `write-region'.
It does not apply to sending output to subprocesses, however.

If this is nil, the buffer is saved without any code conversion
unless some coding system is specified in `file-coding-system-alist'
for the buffer file.

If the text to be saved cannot be encoded as specified by this variable,
an alternative encoding is selected by `select-safe-coding-system', which see.

The variable `coding-system-for-write', if non-nil, overrides this variable.

This variable is never applied to a way of decoding a file while reading it.