Auto firms stuck with 8 lakh vehicles worth Rs 20,000 crore

With over 8 lakh vehicles worth up to Rs 20,000 crore hit by the Supreme Court order to ban BS III vehicles from April 1, auto companies are scrambling to liquidate stocks and upgrade besides considering export options to minimise the impact. According to industry estimates the total value of the impacted vehicles is between Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 crore. Around 6.71 lakh two-wheelers, 97,000 commercial vehicles and over 40,000 three wheelers are affected by the ban.

"Given the current demand, majority of the vehicles in the pipeline have already been sold. Some more will be sold in the next couple of days where we have customer orders," Ashok Leyland MD and CEO Vinod K Dasari, Dasari, who is also the President of industry body SIAM, said in a statement.

The little inventory that is left would be exported to other markets where the company has significant presence and which still operate on BS III norms, he added. "Finally, for any other vehicles still leftover, the company confirms that it will be able to easily upgrade them to BS IV at minimal cost," Dasari said.

The main issue for the industry has been the availability of BS IV fuel across the country, he added.