Tata Motors preparing to export BS-III Commercial Vehicles
Published On Apr 24, 2017
The recent Supreme Court ban on the sales and registration of BS-III vehicles created turmoil in the entire auto industry. Although there was minimal impact in the passenger vehicle segment, the one that has been bearing the brunt is the commercial vehicle department.
India’s leading CV maker Tata Motors is the most affected of the lot. The company has unsold inventory of about 15,000 vehicles and it is now preparing to export them as soon as possible. According to the Executive Director, Commercial Vehicles, Ravindra Pisharody, the company has about 15,000 vehicles while the dealers across the country currently hold 3,000 units.
He stated that more than half of the entire stock will be exported within 4-6 months with either nominal or no modifications. He also said that company is looking to convert the remaining half to Euro IV (BS-IV) compliant technology and dismantle the balance for making spare parts.
Mr. Ravindra Pisharody bluntly said that the company is still considering any possibility of legal action as the government proposal in 2015 was to manufacture only BS-IV vehicles starting April 1st 2017, not to ban the sale of vehicles with older technology from the same day.
The court in its verdict stated that health of the citizens is the prime concern regardless of the financial loss company would incur following the ban. The decision led to steep fall in the shares of the majority of the makers. Before the ban, the total inventory of BS-III vehicles with the manufacturers was 96,700 units, which was worth Rs. 11,000 crore.
