[soji]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYI0P9R-IT8

[RedTerrano]

Instead of scrapping, why dont auto manufacturers switch engines to the BSx compliant ones? Surely that would cost them less than discarding the whole vehicle.

[Tgo]

I must say a relative based in GZB was offered to pick one such vehicle. The story was same - flood damaged and bought and registered as a lot before BS6 kick-off date. He was sent some pictures of the cars which looked like a Maruti only stock yard and none were top trim. The pictures didn't show any sign of flood damage. He was to pay 60% of the original cost of the vehicle upfront and then the vehicle would be allotted and registered. That would also be the full and final payment.

Thankfully, we stayed away from this scam since our probing about applicable warranty, registration formalities and previous ownership history didn't get any replies.

These vehicles would anyway have been caught the moment they would enter a Maruti workshop for service as the forged VINs would not have matched with anything produced by Maruti. So the buyers and the sellers here would have to be like minded people.

[ZenMaster]

Originally Posted by RedTerrano

Instead of scrapping, why dont auto manufacturers switch engines to the BSx compliant ones? Surely that would cost them less than discarding the whole vehicle.

There might be some law against it. Also, they might have to go through so much internal paperwork and effort and time that this is easier for them.

Another way would have been to absorb them as "Company vehicles" and could be used by employees or even for Testing.

[BhaskarG]

During the BS4 to BS6 transition, dealers registered their unsold vehicles in their name before the deadline, and sold them as second hand at a discounted price after the deadline. The vehicles were basically brand new.

MUL could have taken this approach through its dealers' help, cannot understand why they sent brand new vehicles for scrapping instead. This is basically like an open invitation to commit fraud, IMHO. The cars were bound to land up somewhere like this, this is simply just too big a temptation to resist. We all know the used car market and its tricks .

[Sebring]

Actually, what were the administration/courts thinking, that these vehicles would just disappear or end up as scrap? It was a bad year for the auto sector and inventory was high. Bans always result in misuse. Should have been more considerate

[gauravanekar]

Originally Posted by Sebring

Actually, what were the administration/courts thinking, that these vehicles would just disappear or end up as scrap? It was a bad year for the auto sector and inventory was high. Bans always result in misuse. Should have been more considerate

Difficult to agree on this thought, when automakers can time the new generation car launch and still manage to sell off previous model cars on-time with minimum discounts, What stopped such reputable company like MSuzuki to switchover to BS6 on a timely basis.

I could have understood if some dealer was left with unsold inventory, surely OEMs can plan better. Its the product of lackadaisical attitude towards law enforcement and govt. directives.

[R_Gowardhan]

A scam of this magnitude is something that I could fathom when the discussions on “what will happen to the unsold bs4 inventory ?” were still fresh.

Who is to be blamed for this mess?

IMHO it’s the car manufacturers. First, they pushed the inventory down the dealers throat and then treated the dealers with “you broke it, you bought it” attitude . The headache of clearing the BS4 stock was completely on the dealers.

The manufacturers, who were reeling under the pressure of slow growth/ de-growth kept delaying the whole subject. Infact, the last request to the government to delay the bs6 implementation came from Mitsubishi Indians in December 2019! This in spite of the fact that the government had given sufficient advance notice to the manufacturers.

Ideally, the car manufacturers should have brought back this dead inventory to their plant / stockyard and chosen to do either of the following:

1. Export to developing countries
2. Swap the engines to compliant ones and send back to dealership
3. Swap the engines with EV Kits and launch as an Initiative. Would have made a lovely marketing & CSR story too if executed well. Imagine the environmental impact of this as against scrapping those brand new cars.

Heck, even confectionary and dairy products manufacturers bring the unsellable / expired products back to their plants , reprocess it and use it meaningfully as either cattle feed or raw material.

Yet, the high headed car manufacturers chose to just shove the problem under the carpet. I still feel that just because they are not able to sell the intended volumes at the desired margins, most car manufacturers feel they are doing a favour on Indians by selling their cars to us.

[VigneshMC]

I happen to know about this BS4 car sale through a acquaintance around November last year . Cars offered was Baleno, I20, Creta and Innova . Price of all cars were half of their actual value and we had to pay Rs.50K to book and rest after registration . Cars will be registered under any RTO of your choice and you will be the first owner. Moment I heard this, I know this would be a scam. When I first spoke to the acquaintance , he told the delivery would end of November ,which got postponed multiple times and at the end what I heard was advance amount was refunded .

Occasionally from January , I used check news articles for any mention of this scam but today here it is.

[SoumenD]

Ah one of the reasons why second hand car market isn’t that popular in India inspite of being VFM. Some have tampered odometers, jugaad-fixed engine parts, shady service history or something like this scam. No wonder majority still believe in buying new

Safest bet is to buy from someone in your friend/family circle who you can trust

[Maverick Avi]

And dealers/manufacturers believed that brand new vehicles would be actually scrapped by the buyers in India? Anybody would have guessed that this was a scam waiting to happen. Ethics and moral conduct are unfortunately taking a backseat in India with money ruling the roost. Waiting for something more interesting next time.

[octane_100]

The rules are made so nonsensical and complicated that they eventually lead to such scams and frauds. The Govt could have asked manufacturers to have a cut off date for "production" instead of registration of BS4 vehicles. In a reasonable world, this would be done by self declaration of the stock by manufacturers. It could have avoided huge losses everywhere.

[joelstephen]

I assumed that the dealers left with deadstock would purchase it themselves before the last date of BS-IV sales and then sell them as used cars. A practically new BS-IV car in the used car market still carries a lot of value.

As for the stock remaining with manufacturers, they could do something similar through other smaller companies or could export it to countries where the emission norms are not so strict.