BS-III cars still on sale in cities where BS-IV is in force

Manufacturing lines at various car producing facilities across the country started to roll out the new range of Bharat Stage (BS)-IV compliant vehicles in the 13 notified cities from yesterday, according to the Union government guidelines on emission norms.

However, many consumers today were still able to buy the older generation of vehicles adhering to the BS-III norms, and without having to pay the hike in prices which would be in effect from this week.

The government rule had allowed manufacturers to produce the older generation vehicles till the date of implementing the new regulation came into force.

So, most of them continued to produce the BS-III cars and SUVs for all those pockets where the new BS-IV norm is now in place.

Pawan Goenka, president-automotive sector, Mahindra & Mahindra, said: “We cannot produce and supply BS-III vehicles to the 13 cities now but did so till March 31.” So, dealers still have stocks of these vehicles.

According to manufacturers, six-seven models, including variants which were to be phased out from the notified areas, will be pushed to the markets other than the specified 13 cities. The models include the Maruti 800, Chevrolet Tavera, Skoda Octavia and Fabia, Fiat Palio, Ford Ikon and Mitsubishi Lancer.

Dealers today continued to sell BS-III cars in the 13 cities, with most outlets offering ready delivery of the vehicle. These vehicles had a price advantage over the new range.

For instance, Mumbai-based M&M, which is upgrading its entire line, is hiking the price of all its products from Monday. This will give dealers time to exhaust the current range of stock at current prices.

Czech car brand Skoda Auto, which decided to discontinue two variants of its popular brands, Fabia and Octavia, from yesterday, had supplied adequate quantities of the two models to its dealers to service any demand.

“Due to lack of clarity from the government on implementation of the new emission norm, we had produced the Octavia 1.9 TDi and Fabia 1.2 in adequate numbers. Our dealers can sell them for the next three-four months,” stated a company executive.

Skoda is phasing out the Octavia 1.9 TDi (diesel) and the Fabia 1.2 (petrol) from the 13 markets.

Similarly, Chevrolet’s Tavera, the multi-seater utility vehicle from General Motors, is available for sale throughout the country, although the company has made it clear that the model will be phased out from the 13 cities.