BENGALURU: Auto dealers and manufacturers are offering bumper discounts for BS-III vehicles to offload as much stock as possible before April 1. According to dealers, discounts are being offered for models, primarily two-wheelers, from companies including Hero Motocorp, Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India (HMSI), and TVS Motor Company.
The Supreme Court has banned sale and registration of BS-III vehicles from April 1.
As of March 20, auto-makers had an inventory of 8,24,275 units, including 6,71,308 two-wheelers.
A lot of dealers in Bengaluru sold vehicles at discount prices on Wednesday and Thursday, to ensure stock clearance before the deadline. Discounts offered range between Rs 3,000 to as high as Rs 22,000 for two-wheelers.
Honda Motorcycles is offering a flat cash back of Rs 22,000 and TVS, discounts up to Rs 20,150 on a wide range of two-wheelers.
An employee of Millennium Motors in the city said their showroom offered up to Rs 12,000 off on scooters and up to Rs 5,000 on bikes on Wednesday and Thursday, clearing all their stocks. “The deadline for registration is Friday and hence the offer was limited only for two days,” the employee said. Manjunath of Access Motors said the discounts are not being decided by the dealers. “Companies are intimating customers through SMSes,” he said.
The discounts varied depending on the brands and the corresponding number of BS-III vehicles remaining in the market. Largely, the discounts were for two-wheelers while car showrooms had begun to get BS-IV compliant vehicles in January 2017 or earlier.
“We started getting BS-IV vehicles last year since everyone was aware that the regulations would be implemented from this year,” said Sharath, an employee at Sireesh Auto.
The bumper discounts offered by Auto dealers and manufacturers for BS-III vehicles to offload as much stock as possible varied depending on the brands and the corresponding number of BS-III vehicles remaining in the market. Largely, the discounts were for two-wheelers while car showrooms had begun to get BS-IV compliant vehicles in January 2017 or earlier.
However, these discounts are unlikely to make a dent on existing inventory. “They can help close customers who walk in. But they cannot attract enough of them inside showrooms,” said John K Paul, president, Federation of Automobile Dealers’ Associations. He said there would not be much impact on growth of the sector on account of this shift. “Anyway April is a slow month. By the end of the month, things will roll again.”
Meanwhile, in a contrasting view, Vinod K Dasari, MD and CEO, Ashok Leyland stated that BS IV Commercial Vehicles could not run properly on BS III fuel and such fuel was not available nationwide.
“Given the current demand, majority of the vehicles in the pipeline have already been sold,” he said, adding the rest of the inventory will be exported to markets that still operate on BS III norms.
Hero MotoCorp, with the largest inventory of BS-III stock as of March 20 (2,97,577 units) is giving a rebate of Rs 12,500 on scooters, Rs 7,500 on premium motorcycles and Rs 5,000 on other models. HMSI, with the second largest inventory (2,25,599 units) is offering a flat Rs 10,000 discount on all its BS-III merchandise. Discounts are being offered in certain regions by TVS dealers ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000. All discounts are valid only until March 31.