Triumph Motorcycles India has taken back more than a hundred BS 3 bikes from dealers across the country. The bikes in question do not meet the latest Bharat Stage 4 emission regulations which come into effect from 1st April 2017. Triumph dealers have been offering heavy discounts on the BS 3 bikes which do not meet BS 4 emission regulations, in an effort to clear out stock before the 31st March deadline. The Supreme Court has banned the manufacture, sale or registration of all vehicles which do not conform to the BS 4 regulations from 1st April.
(Triumph Tiger 800 XR)
CarandBike has learnt that the decision to take back the BS 3 bikes was taken by Triumph India in the face of discounts offered by dealers. There's no official statement from Triumph as yet, but the decision to withdraw the bikes was apparently taken because "selling the BS 3 bikes wasn't environmentally friendly" and the management wasn't comfortable with Triumph becoming a discounted brand. More than 100 bikes have been taken back by the company although it's still not clear what will happen to those bikes which cannot be sold or registered in India. Market value of these bikes is pegged at between Rs 10-11 crore.
(Triumph Tiger 800 XCx)
Triumph dealers have been offering heavy discounts on the BS III bikes, with as much as Rs 3 lakh off on certain models. One dealer told CarandBike that there was a big inventory of cruisers and Triumph's bestselling Tiger bikes, but that they weren't worried since the company has agreed to take back the bikes anyway. Triumph's decision to withdraw the bikes from the market comes just as the deadline to sell BS 3 bans is coming to an end. From 1 April 2017, these bikes will anyway be banned from being sold or registered across India. It may be rather late in the day, but Triumph, like most other manufacturers, has been maintaining a "wait and watch" policy on the emission regulations deadline. CarandBike tried to reach Triumph India for a comment, but there was no response from the company.
Italian premium motorcycle brand Ducati also faced similar problems with BS 3 bikes. Most of the BS 3 Ducati bikes have been sold out across dealerships in India. The Supreme Court order doesn't really affect premium bike brands in India as much as the mass market brands. Hero MotoCorp is also offering massive discounts while being faced with losses of nearly Rs 1600 crore. The second largest two wheeler manufacturer, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India is also facing a hit of a few hundred crores. A source in HMSI maintained that Honda dealers are doing roaring business after the discounts have been announced, and expect motorcycles and scooters to sell out before the deadline ends. In fact, across brands, most manufacturers expect sales to be at an all-time high with over 90 per cent of the BS 3 stock sold out within the deadline.
