BS-IV Effect: What Options Do Dealers Have?

First off, thank you for showing so much interest in the trending topic of BS III vehicle sales; you made our site crash. Yay! Kidding aside, the great deals we’re getting from across two-wheeler brands are making this hot month-end even hotter.

However, dealers, of course, can’t be too happy about this. Mass market two-wheelers are being sold with discounts of anywhere between Rs 10,000-20,000, while higher up the bike chain, prices are being slashed by Rs 1 lakh to nearly Rs 3 lakh! From tomorrow, these BS-III vehicles can no longer be registered and there’s a good chance most dealers will be sitting on some stock that will effectively be dead weight.

So, here’s a look at some of the options they have to work around this dilemma:

New For Used

In April, the pre-owned two-wheeler market is likely to see some great deals. As per our enquiries, certain dealers, particularly those with a small amount of stock to clear, are registering the vehicles themselves. Once registered, these motorcycles and scooters will then be sold as pre-owned vehicles with barely any kilometres run!

This method will definitely see dealers lose a fair share in margins, but it’s still something to cut their losses by a significant amount.

Recall For BS-IV Rework

While the option above is at a dealer’s discretion, the other options will require the retailers and manufacturers to chalk out a game plan. BS-III vehicles are now out of production, but the models are still the same with any change in specifications being negligible. Manufacturers can have the dispatched units brought back to the factory to rework them for BSIV compliance, while auto-headlamp on (AHO) can be integrated into these vehicles as well, since both norms are now mandatory, albeit not codependent.

In theory, this is the best solution, but it will be quite the logistical nightmare. Factory dispatches are planned several weeks in advance and reworking the manufacturing process to accommodate vehicles already dispatched is no small ask.

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Recall For Export/Re-Export

The unsold inventory could be bought back by the manufacturer to have it exported to destination markets where they’d still comply with the specific emission norms. These markets could include countries in Africa and Latin America.

As for CBUs/direct imports, the motorcycles will simply be sent back to the country of origin for re-export.

Recall For Scrapping

Ultimately, if nothing else works out, bikemakers will simply have to recall the vehicles to scrap them and bolster production of BS-IV complaint vehicles to make up for reduced stock.

Also Read:

·         BS-IV Effect - Honda Navi Offered At Rs 25,000!

·         BS-IV Effect – Hero Offering Discounts Up To Rs 15,000

·         BS-IV Effect - TVS Offers Discounts On Existing BS-III Stock

·         BS-IV Effect: Rs 5,000 Discount On BS-III Suzuki Let's And Gixxer