Honda, Hyundai, Nissan Offer Upto Rs 2.5 Lakh Discount On BS-4 Cars; SC Orders No Sale After April 24th

In a relief to automobile dealers, the Supreme Court on Friday allowed the sale of BS-IV compliant vehicles for 10 days, except in Delhi-NCR, after the ongoing countrywide lockdown over the coronavirus pandemic is lifted.

Given the special circumstances, where dealerships are facing a tough time clearing their BS-IV stock due to the coronavirus lockdown, the apex court has ruled that only 10% of unsold BS4 vehicles can be sold within 10 days after the lockdown ends.

However, this ruling doesn’t stand valid for Delhi NCR region.

SC Eases Deadline for Automobile Industry

Supreme Court had earlier fixed the deadline of for the sale of BS4 models in India to be March 31, 2020. However, the apex court passed the order on a plea by Federation of Automobile Dealers’ Association (FADA), seeking an extension of time for the sale of these vehicles amid coronavirus scare and economic slowdown.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Deepak Gupta, which heard the matter on Friday through video-conferencing, made it clear however that no BS-IV vehicles will be allowed to be sold in Delhi-NCR from April 1, 2020.

It said that only 10% of the unsold inventory will be permitted to be sold after the 21-day lockdown period will end on April 14, which means dealers can sell their BS4 stock till April 24, 2020.

The top court made it clear that BS-IV compliant vehicles which have already been sold but not registered due to lockdown can be registered after the restrictions are lifted.

BS-IV Vehicles’ Loss and BS-VI Vehicles’ Efficiency

The Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA) and the Society of Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) had moved the top court for extending March 31 deadline for sale of BS4 vehicles.

FADA argued that 15,000 passenger cars, 12,000 commercial vehicles, 7 lakh 2-wheelers are at stake due to, first the slowdown in the industry and the later the drop in footfall at showrooms due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The apex court, however said that it cannot keep extending the time for BS-IV vehicles and dealers should be ready to sacrifice and do something for the country’s environment.

It had said there cannot be any compromise on the health of citizens which has to take precedence over the “greed” of a few automobile manufacturers who want to stretch the timeline to make a “little more money”.

The apex court had on October 24, 2018, said no BS-IV vehicle would be sold or registered in India from April 1, 2020.  In 2016, the Centre had announced that India would skip the BS-V norms altogether and adopt BS-VI norms by 2020.   

Bharat Stage (BS) emission norms are standards instituted by the government to regulate the output of air pollutants from motor vehicles. The BS-IV norms have been enforced across the country since April 2017.

India has decided to switch to the world’s cleanest petrol and diesel from April 1 as it leapfrogs straight to Euro-VI emission compliant fuels from Euro-IV grades now—a feat achieved in just three years and not seen in any of the large economies around the globe.

Discounts provided by Auto manufactures

While most carmakers have already rolled out BS6 compliant models and nearly exhausted their BS4 stock, others are still struggling to clear the existing stock of BS4 models. 

The Indian automobile industry is likely to suffer an estimated revenue loss of around ? 13,000 crore to ? 15,000 crore due to the coronavirus outbreak. SIAM has already estimated a minimum loss of ? 2300 crore each day.

With less than a week to go, manufacturers and dealerships are desperate to clear the existing stock and have rolled out some heavy discounts and offers on BS4 models. 

Hyundai Motor India

• Hyundai Santro gets benefits of up to Rs 55,000.

• BS4 compliant Grand i10 petrol comes with benefits of up to Rs 75,000.

• Grand i10 Nios diesel (BS4) gets benefit up to Rs 55,000.

• For Hyundai i20, the company is offering benefits up to Rs 45,000 on the base trims Era and Magna+.

• All variants from Sportz+ and above come with benefits up to Rs 65,000, on both petrol and diesel models.

• Previous generation Hyundai Xcent sub-compact sedan is up for sale with benefits of up to Rs 95,000, on both petrol and diesel models.

• Verna compact sedan comes with benefits of up to Rs 90,000.

• Benefits of up to ? 1.15 lakh on the 1.6-litre (petrol & diesel) variants of the previous-gen Hyundai Creta.

• Both the Tucson and Elantra are available with discounts of up to Rs 2.5 lakh.

Nissan India

• It has announced benefits of up to Rs 1.63 lakh with the BS4 compliant Nissan Kicks SUV.

• Both petrol and diesel variants get exchange Bonus up to Rs 40,000, corporate discounts up to Rs 10,000, free accessories worth Rs 13,100, 2 years + Free 3 years extended warranty benefits amounting up to Rs 20,500, and 6.99% interest rate for 36 months, which comes up to Rs 35,000 in benefits.

• The diesel variants also get an additional cash discount of Rs 45,000.

• Nissan Sunny sedan includes cash benefit of Rs 45,000, exchange bonus of Rs 20,000, and a corporate bonus of Rs 10,000, in addition to a reduced 6.99% interest rate for 36 months.

• The company is also offering benefits of up to Rs 61,000 on the Micra and Micra Active hatchbacks, which include a cash discount of Rs 35,000, exchange bonus of Rs 20,000 and a corporate discount of Rs 6,000.

Honda Cars India

• Honda Amaze is offering benefits worth of up to ? 32,000, which includes an extended warranty pack (4th & 5th Year) worth ? 12 000 and exchange bonus worth ? 20,000.

• If you manage to find a 2019 model at any dealership, the exchange bonus will increase to ? 30,000. 

• Honda Jazz (all variants) comes with a cash discount of ? 20,000 and exchange bonus of ? 20,000, and if it’s a 2019 model, then you can avail an additional ? 5000 on the exchange bonus. 

• The Honda City currently comes with benefits of up to ? 62,000, which includes a cash discount of ? 32,000 and exchange bonus of ? 30,000.