CHENNAI: With a mammoth inventory of BS-III stock staring them in the face in the wake of the Supreme Court ban on their sale from April 1, auto-makers’ production charts of the past few months show that they might have no one to blame but themselves.
According to data submitted by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers to the SC, Indian auto-makers manufactured a whopping 14.04 lakh BS-III vehicles in the past three months alone – 1,35,333 commercial vehicles, 16,082 four-wheelers, 35,234 three-wheelers and 12,17,361 two-wheelers.
In commercial vehicles, production of BS-III vehicles actually grew after the meeting between the industry and the Environment Pollution Control Authority in October 2016, when they were urged to taper down production.
Analysts say while clarity on whether sales too would be halted from April 1 was lacking, auto-makers were complacent in continuing production of BS-III vehicles right up to the final verdict of the SC.
“This was not thought out well. Perhaps, they thought that since the previous two transitions had seen more time given for sale of inventory, they would get some this time too. But the Supreme Court in the recent past has acted strongly on pollution and environment related issues.
They have done so this time too,” Abdul Majeed, auto analyst and partner, Pricewaterhouse Cooper, had said right after the verdict on Wednesday.