As a result of the Supreme Court’s orders to ban the BS-III vehicles from April 1, the automobile companies sold out their BS-III vehicle inventory amidst chaotic scenes across the city. Heavy discounts were offered on the sale.
Most of the showrooms and dealers had exhausted their vehicles on Thursday night, while some sold out their stock early in the morning, soon after opening the shutters.
On Friday a heavy crowd was seen in front of the vehicle showrooms across the city. The customers were standing in queue since early morning to buy the vehicles and take the advantage of heavy discounts. However, it is to be noted that most of the stock in State capital was cleared till Thursday night.
It was expected that the automobile companies will increase the discount range till Friday, but till Thursday most of the stock was sold out. Hence on Friday many customers had to return home disappointed. The stock was only seen at Bajaj Honda showrooms.
As there was huge crowd on the showrooms on Friday and created hurdle in traffic and at showrooms, the police had to manage the crowd.
The two-wheeler companies offered a discount from Rs 5000 to 20,000. On Thursday, the showrooms were jam-packed by the customers. In a bid to sell the maximum numbers the discount was increased upto Rs 22,000, but due to inconvenience some dealers decreased the discount till Rs 6000.
Hero Motocorp offered a discount of Rs 12, 500 along with free insurance. On premium bike Hero offered the discount of Rs 7000 and on entry level bikes there was a discount of Rs 5000.
Similarly, Honda offered a discount of Rs 10,000 and later increased it upto 22, 000, Suzuki and Bajaj Auto also offered the amount of Rs 12,000 on its some models.
It is to be noted that the automobile companies instructed the dealers to increase the discounts if the stock is not cleared. They were also instructed that stock has to be sold out in any case till March 31.
As there was a heavy discount on two wheelers, the four wheel companies did not leave any stone unturned to sell off the stock. A discount upto Rs 1.5 lakh was offered by the car dealers.
According to the automobile experts, such crowd is not even noticed on Diwali and Dhanteras. The Bhopalites took a lot of pleasure of the unseasonal discount.