Chhattisgarh BANS sale of Hero MotoCorp & Honda Two-Wheelers in Raipur & Gariyaband districts

The Chhattisgarh Transport division has banned sales of Hero MotoCorp and Honda two-wheelers in Raipur and Gariyaband districts in Chattisgarh. This has been done because the dealerships did not approve the sale of BS6 models, even though communication was received by the dealers. There are eight dealerships that have been banned. There are four of Hero MotoCorp and four of Honda Two-wheelers.

On this the President of Raipur Automobile Dealers Association, Manish Raj Singhania said “MoRTH (Ministry of Road Transport and Highways) had clearly stated that state-level model approval is not required as it causes unnecessary delays and harassment. Chhatisgarh should also comply with the same. The sudden ban on the registration does not reflect well on the functioning of the department”

“We are really surprised with this order as the Central government has already given an order stating that state-wise approval of new models are not required as they are already approved by ARAI and competent authorities,” Vinkesh Gulati, President, Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA) reported to ETAuto over a call.

Also read: Hero XPulse 200 BS6 launched in India

Till now dealerships only in these two districts have been banned. It is yet to be seen if the other districts will also follow Chhattisgarh or not. BS6 norms were implemented from April 1st 2020. So, it has been quite some time since the dealerships were still selling the vehicles without approving them. The emission norms or Bharat Stage emission norms were laid down by the government to regulate the air pollutants that came out from the vehicle’s internal combustion engine. The implementation of emission norms also resulted in price hikes for all the vehicles that were on sale. Some big brands like Maruti Suzuki and Renault decided to discontinue their diesel engines because these engines did not comply with the BS6 emission norms.

Speaking of the manufacturers themselves, Honda Two-wheelers and Hero MotoCorp have been doing fairly well in the Indian market. Hero updated their Xpulse 200 which is an entry-level off-road motorcycle with an oil-cooled engine and they also released a rally kit for the adventure-off-road motorcycle. The motorcycle and the rally kit received a very good response from the market and the enthusiasts. Considering that we all cannot go on long rides, people have started trail-riding for which they needed a light, nimble and off-road motorcycle. The Hero Xpulse ticks all of those boxes. The motorcycle costs Rs. 1.13 lakhs ex-showroom and the rally kit costs Rs. 38,000 and you can even buy the kit in individual parts. Then they also launched the Xtreme 160R which is a premium commuter. Even though the Xtreme 160R was low on power when compared to the rivals like the Bajaj Pulsar NS160 and TVS Apache RTR 160 4V, its lightweight made it a very nimble and fun to ride a motorcycle. The Xtreme 160R is priced at Rs. 1.04 lakhs ex-showroom. The homegrown manufacturer also reported a 12.9 percent in November 2020 when compared to the sales of November 2019.

Honda Two-wheelers was also not too far behind. They reported a growth of 9 percent in November 2020 when compared to the sales of November 2019. They launched the Honda H’ness CB350 for the Indian market. It is a retro motorcycle with a modern touch. It competes with the big players such as the Royal Enfield Classic 350. The Honda H-ness CB350 starts at Rs. 1.85 lakhs ex-showroom.

Via ETAuto

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