Hyderabad: Two-wheeler manufacturers have priced BS-IV vehicles up by 10 to 25 per cent over their BS-III versions, which were banned from April 1, leading to a drop in sales. Few showrooms had two-wheelers complying with BS-IV norms, and supply is picking up.
A dealer said customers were stepping back due to the higher prices and the increased cost of insurance. “A motorcycle with BS-III standards cost Rs 61,500 on road but the BS-IV version costs Rs 67,000 with hiked insurance charges,” he said.
AP and Telangana Automobile Dealers’ Association president Y. Rama Koteswara Rao said all two-wheeler showrooms in the two states had procured BS-IV vehicles. “Stock is available with every dealer now. We are expecting normalcy in sales after 15 days. The gap has been already filled with the huge sales in two (days before the deadline ran out on BS-III vehicles),” Mr Rao said.
He said dealers were are expecting compensation from manufacturers as they gave deep discounts to clear the BS-III stock and to call back the leftover vehicles. “A few manufacturers have already announced minimum compensation and dealers should bear some loss,” he said.
He said the losses would not impact the existing offers. “All the dealers will continue the offers towards cash back, exchange benefits, discounts and others,” he said. Hyderabad joint transport commissioner J. Pandurang Naik said there was a ban on BS-III category cars from April 1, 2016. Only two-wheelers, autorickshaws, auto-trolleys and other transport vehicles were allowed for the registrations till March 31. He said the RTAs had upgraded software to generate temporary registrations through dealers and the system would not accept any vehicle other than those complying with BS-IV standards.
