Wednesday, June 05, 2019
By Kamal Swami
Mahindra and Mahindra to launch BS-VI compliant vehicles next year
Bharat Stage -VI norms are introduced for vehicles operated on the Indian Roads. This was earlier announced two decades back to determine how much pollutants the automobiles release in the air. BS VI is the sixth stage of Bharat Stage Emission norms that will be coming into effect from April 1, 2020.
Mahindra and Mahindra is all set to roll out Bharat Stage VI or BS-VI emission norm compliant diesel vehicle in the coming year and the petrol range over the next two-three months. Sources had confirmed that the Mumbai based automaker has invested over Rs. 1,000 crore in the development of its product range to conform the BS VI norms. These norms will come into force from April 1, 2020 across the country.
"We will be first launching the gasoline vehicles during the second quarter of this year," Pawan Goenka, Managing Director at Mahindra and Mahindra said. This is because the petrol range does not require a BS VI fuel, he said.
“We are also ready to launch diesel vehicles in late December or early January 2020 as the fuel is not available now. I am assuming that the fuel will be made available in December and early January. Fuel should be made available throughout India and not just in Delhi," Goenka said. He further added, Mahindra would have eight diesel engines, including two new diesel engines in its BS6 portfolio which would be used over 16 platforms and 38 vehicle variants. These includes all commercial and passenger vehicles and three brand new models.
M&M is testing the engines on its popular models such as XUV300 and XUV500 etc.
Goenka said the company would also have eight BS-VI petrol engines out of which two will be introduced in the future. These eight BS-VI petrol engines would service 12 vehicle models built on 8 platforms. Mahindra will be collaborating with American auto giant Ford and Ssangyong, the fourth largest South Korea automaker, for their BS-VI range of petrol engines.
In fact, it was also confirmed that some of the models of Mahindra such as the Marazzo, will soon get a petrol engine shortly.
Goenka said ramping up and down the entire volume of the automotive business over the next two-three months is a humongous challenge for suppliers and also for the plants.
