Tata Motors plans to get future-ready
Company is working on introducing technology to make its vehicles comply with BS-IV norms and also help the auto major to migrate from BS-IV to BS-VI
After domestic sales of its commercial vehicles plummeted by 36 per cent last month following the sudden Supreme Court order banning sales of Bharat Stage (BS)-III vehicles, Tata Motors’ commercial vehicles division is getting future-ready to avoid any such sales disruptions in the coming three years.
The company, faced with an inventory of 15,000 BS-III graded commercial vehicles, of which the heavy vehicles account for at least 27 per cent, is working on introducing Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) and Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) technology in its vehicles which will not just make its vehicles comply with BS-IV emission norms but these technologies will also help the company migrate from BS-IV to BS-VI, poised to become the norm in April 2020.
“We have to be ready with the vehicles meeting BS-VI norms much before its proposed roll-out date so that we are not faced with any more shocks which arose from a recent incident. Thus, we are powering our engines with the SCR technology,” said Rajesh Kaul, head, sales and marketing, medium and heavy commercial vehicles (M&HCV), Tata Motors.
Kaul said the EGR technology, which Tata Motors had developed in-house, will be used in the light-medium commercial vehicle range while the SCR powered engines, sourced from diesel engine maker, Cummins, will be used for heavy vehicles. However, the company is betting high on the SCR technology, which it says is future ready and a “proven global technology”.
While EGR is a relatively low-cost, simple and easy to integrate solution, SCR can be scaled up to meet the norms of the upcoming BS-VI standards. Although the company manufactured commercial vehicles in accordance to BS III norms which now has changed to cater to BS IV norms, it had developed the EGR technology back in 2010 while adopted the SCR emission solution in 2014.
According to Girish Wagh, head, product line, M&HCV at Tata Motors, prices of commercial vehicles can shoot up by seven-nine per cent on account of the switchover to the SCR technology. However, he couldn’t state the effect on vehicle prices once India shifts from BS IV to BS VI norms directly.
“It cannot be predicted at this point of time. The price will depend on several factors including research and development”, he said.
Annually, Tata Motors spends around ~3,500 crore on research and development of which around 40 per cent is on the commercial vehicles product lines. However, Wagh could not give a monetary estimate on the company’s expected expenses to make it ready for BS VI norms.
Over the stockpile of BS III norm vehicles in its warehouse, Wagh said the company is exploring options to export these vehicles in the SAARC region.