With the Bharat Stage 6 emission norms set to become mandatory from April 1, 2020, automakers have already started working towards this goal, and leading utility vehicle manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra is one of them. Currently, the vehicles sold in India comply to the BS-IV emission norms, and as stated by several manufacturers, this long leap to BS 6 will involve quite a large investment. Addressing this very scenario, on the sidelines of the launch of the company's new intermediate truck Furio, Pawan Goenka, Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra, said that a small number of low volume models will not see the shift to BS 6.
Talking about the passenger vehicles that will not switch over to BS-VI, Goenka said, "We are deciding right now. We will have to take a call on some very small volume vehicles, because the development cost is quite significant, for BS 6, for each model. Unless there is a certain minimum volume that we see, it will not pay to go to BS 6. So, the team is taking a call, and there are few low volume products that we'll not take to BS 6, but all the high volume products will."
Pawan Goenka said, the company is still deciding on the models that will not switch over to BS 6
As for the company's plan to begin the production of BS 6 vehicles, Pawan Goenka said, "We will start making BS 6 vehicles sometime in January (2020), and make both BS 4 and BS 6 vehicles for some time. We'll probably stop production of BS 4 vehicles by the end of February 2020."
Right now, some of the lowest performers in the company's product line-up include - the Mahindra NuvoSport, Verito, Verito Vibe, and the Xylo. In fact, Mahindra hasn't sold a single unit of the NuvoSport in the last 3 months, while the collective average monthly sales of the Verito and Vibe haven't crossed the 200 units mark. While the carmaker did not mention any names, these could very well be some of the candidates that might see the end of the road as BS 6 emission norms kick in from April 2020.
