Supreme Court Extends BS4 Vehicle-Sale Deadline: According to recent reports, the two-wheeler manufacturers in India have been left with a BS4 inventory worth INR 2500 Crore. Since the BS6 emission norms are to be effective in the country from April 1, 2020, the manufactures were allowed to sell their BS4 portfolio till March 31, 2020.
Taking into consideration the petition filed by major manufacturers like Hero MotoCorp, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India as well as the FADA to the Supreme Court to offer them relief in liquidating the BS4 products, the court has officially allowed the manufacturers to sell 10% of their remaining BS4 inventory after the nationwide lockdown is lifted.
The manufacturers can sell their BS4 products post 10 days after the lockdown is over while the BS4 products that have been sold before the lockdown and not been registered will also be eligible for the registration. The petition was filed by the manufacturers to buy some more time from the Supreme Court to liquidate their BS4 stock as with the nationwide lockdown they have not been able to get as many sales as expected.
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has uprooted every country from its core, the manufacturers have not been able to sell a majority of the BS4 chunk with the decreased footfall as well as the nationwide lockdown.
Since people in India are not able to make a non-essential movement, the automobile manufacturers have been unable to liquidate their BS4 stock before the implementation of new emission norms in the country. All the manufactures have halted their operations with the lockdown across every state in India to cater to their employees’ well-being which has officially left them with hoards of BS4 inventory that will be of no use after April 1, 2020.
Commenting on the appeal, Niranjan Gupta, CFO of Hero Moto stated – “We are simply saying that give us at least three months to sell the stock which is already in the market. No fresh BS-IV stocks are being produced, or dispatched,”
Indeed, the situation is rather challenging for the entire nation, but the decision of the court to allow the dealers to sell only 10% of their BS4 inventory worth crores is somewhat vague as the government is offering huge reliefs in every segment with the ongoing pandemic and the helpless situation.
Certain dealer councils have also approached the manufacturers to reimburse the dealers for losses they will encounter with the leftover inventory though there have been no further reports received on the same. Some dealers are also planning on registering all the remaining BS4 inventory to their names which can be further sold to the customers as pre-owned vehicles.
