Exclusive: HMSI to make only BS IV-compliant two-wheelers from March 1

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) will become the second two-wheeler manufacturer in India, after Bajaj Auto, to be manufacturing only BS IV-compliant scooters and motorcycles a month ahead of the April 1, 2017 deadline, as set by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) in a notification dated July 4, 2014.

HMSI has a total manufacturing capacity of 5.8 million units across four plants in the country -- Manesar, Haryana (1.6m), Tapukara, Rajasthan (1.2m), Kolar (1.8m) and Vithalapur, Gujarat (1.2m).  

Honda's move to go fully BS IV marks a sizeable transition within the two-wheeler industry to the upcoming BS IV emission norms before the original deadline as HMSI, India’s second largest two-wheeler manufacturer, and Bajaj Auto, the fourth largest manufacturer, have upgraded earlier than the other OEMs which include Hero MotoCorp, TVS Motor Company, India Yamaha Motor and Royal Enfield, among others.

While Bajaj Auto started manufacturing BS IV-only models nearly two months before the notified date, Honda will begin its production of BS IV-only two-wheelers a month earlier.

At a press conference in Mumbai on February 15, Rajiv Bajaj, managing director, Bajaj Auto, had revealed that his company had started converting the existing BS III-compliant models to BS IV standards in September 2016, and had finished doing so by end-January 2017 when all three manufacturing plants began rolling out only BS IV models.

Rajiv Bajaj had also appealed against the unfair price advantage that other OEMs may have while selling BS III-compliant vehicles in the market beyond April 1, 2017 in the form of disposing their accumulated inventory.

It is understood that the BS IV-compliant models are costlier than their BS III-compliant counterparts, and a few market research firms had already pointed at a potential spike in sales of BS III-compliant models as the deadline of April 1 is approaching.

In an official communication with Autocar Professional, Yadvinder Singh Guleria, senior vice-president (Sales & Marketing), HMSI, said that his company is prepared to meet the BS IV deadline and is also well placed to sell off the BS III-compliant inventory timely.

“We are prepared for the incoming BS IV deadline. For Honda, our market strategy is well placed for existing BS III stock and from 1st of March 2017, we will be producing only BS IV models,” he said.

“Our first BS IV model, the CB Hornet 160R was launched in 2015 and currently, more than 85 percent of our models are BS IV-compliant,” he had revealed earlier this month.

Also read: Early adopters of BS IV should be incentivised: Vinod Dasari, president – SIAM