Davos 2019: Stricter Emission Norms A Y2K Moment For Automakers, Says Pawan Goenka
A few of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.’s products may miss the deadline of switching to the Bharat Stage-VI emissions standards, according to its Managing Director Pawan Goenka.
He said that the entire auto industry faces this problem. “Everyone is putting up a brave face. But I don't think anybody can guarantee whether they'll be all ready,” Goenka told BloombergQuint on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “For most of our high volume products, we will probably be ready—just in time. But some of the lower volume products may spill into April or May [in 2020].”
The Supreme Court ruled that BS-VI emissions standards must be effective from April 1, 2020, saying that no vehicle under the existing BS-IV should be sold or registered from then.
This deadline, according to Goenka, is the auto industry’s “Y2K” moment. “It makes a huge task in terms of SCM (supply-chain management), ramping up BS VI and ramping down BS IV. There are constraints on not being able to sell beyond March 31 (BS IV products),” he said. “What will happen on April 1 [2020] is hard to imagine. As it is, we were really stretched in terms of the last date for manufacturing set at March 31, 2020, which is now also the deadline for sales.”