Maruti running out of BS-IV stock even as buyers seek emission-friendly BS-VI variants

Maruti Suzuki Baleno | 21,971 | The Maruti Suzuki Baleno, too, retains its second spot selling 21,971 units. This is up 35 percent from last year’s 16,237 units.

Car consumers are seeking cleaner, next-gen Bharat Stage VI (BS-VI) emission standard vehicles from Maruti Suzuki despite the availability of cheaper and soon-to-be-outdated BS-IV vehicles.

Despite Rs 8,000-11,000 increase in prices in BS-VI cars compared to BS-IV, the car market leader has sold more than 200,000 units of BS-VI cars since their debut in April.

In a recent conference call on the sidelines of announcing the Q2 results, a senior Maruti Suzuki official said that the company was left with only 14 days of BS-IV stock.

So far, of the 14 models the Delhi-based company retails in India, eight have been converted to BS-VI including some best-sellers like Alto, Baleno, Swift, Dzire, Ertiga and Wagon R.

Shashank Srivastava, executive director, Maruti Suzuki said, “We launched Alto BS-VI in April this year. Both vehicles were available for some months. Between the two people still preferred BS-VI. Consumers have a good image of BS-VI. There is an image in the minds of the consumers that BS-VI vehicles have better engines, better exhaust and considered to be a higher tech system. The younger consumer is aware of the emission and concern for environment.”

A couple of models like Brezza and S-Cross which are presently available only in diesel will sport a petrol option in the next few months. Maruti Suzuki has completely stopped production of BS-IV versions of those models whose BS-VI versions have been introduced. The company does not have a system where the production line can make both the versions.

The government, though, has assured that all BS-IV cars will be allowed to run for their duration of certification on the roads.

“We have run out of BS-IV stocks in most of the models where we have introduced BS-VI version. For instance Alto and Baleno we have run out of stock for the BS-IV version, Wagon R, Swift petrol, Ertiga also do not have BS-IV stocks,” added Srivastava speaking to Moneycontrol.

As per rules laid down by the government of India, car makers won’t be able to sell BS-IV cars after March 31, 2020. Only BS-VI powered cars will be allowed to be sold after April 1, 2020. Taking the lead, Maruti Suzuki rolled out BS-VI cars a full year before the deadline. Others like Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra are yet to roll out BS-VI cars.

Nearly 1,800 vehicles (all types of vehicles) get added to Delhi roads every day. Vehicles generate nitrogen in huge quantities. When combined with oxygen, the result is nitrogen oxide (NOx), a deadly health hazard responsible for respiratory ailments.

BS-VI can reduce NOx emissions by 25 percent for petrol vehicles and 70 percent for diesel vehicles.

Similarly, the emission of sulphur dioxide, the main ingredient for formation of particulate matter (PM), will also reduce to just a fifth with the use of cleaner BS-VI fuels. The sulphur content in the BS-VI fuel has been brought down from 50ppm (parts per million) to 10ppm.

These reductions can improve air quality in heavily congested cities like Delhi which is already in the list of world’s worst cities for air quality. Delhi is the only city in India to get BS-VI fuel, also much ahead of the nation-wide deadline of April 1, 2020.

Petrol-powered BS-VI cars can run on BS-IV fuel and vice-versa without any trouble, say industry players. In fact, BS-VI cars running on BS-IV fuel will give out the same emission if the same was run on BS-VI-grade fuel. But, as far as diesel is concerned, manufacturers are wary of allowing BS-IV fuel used for powering BS-VI cars. That is why manufacturers are waiting for BS-VI fuel to be made available before making introducing any diesel models.

C V Raman, Senior Executive Director (engineering) - Maruti Suzuki, said, “In the case of gasoline in the after treatment we tested the catalyst with BS-IV fuel and there was no impact. In diesel vehicles there is a problem. Studies have shown that there is an impact on the after treatment system and the particulate filter is possible to get clogged with extended use.”

Despite this, a couple of manufacturers – Kia and Mercedes-Benz – have gone ahead to launch diesel BS-VI models in India.

The fuel efficiency of BS-VI vehicles is slightly lower, when compared to BS-IV vehicles, but manufacturers like Maruti Suzuki are taking efforts to bring it back to BS-IV levels. This can be done through improvement in technology and reduction in the overall weight of the vehicle.

“Fuel efficiency of a BS-VI car could be down by 4-8 percent (compared to BS-IV counterparts). We are trying to improve the fuel efficiency. Fuel efficiency comes down because the change in methodology in testing. So car makers have to improve the efficiency and bring it back to the original levels or closer to that,” added Raman.