Indian Auto Industry Should Learn A Lesson From BS-III Ban — Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz said that Indian automobile industry should seek clarity from other sources such as Supreme Court or NGT on health related issues. The auto industry should not rely on government alone as things are getting complicated.

Mercedes-Benz India MD and CEO Roland Folger said, "We are realising that even if you obey everything strictly by the law that does not mean that the Supreme Court or any other body like the NGT cannot bring up issues that are pertinent and impact health in a negative way."

Although, Folger stated that he was positively surprised by the ban on BS-III vehicles in India. The ban on BS-III vehicles proved the company's point of heightened level of awareness on environmental issues.

Commenting on the positives of the prohibition on BS-III vehicles, Folger said, "I think that learning from this when we look forward to 2020 for the introduction of BS-VI, we cannot rely only on policy. I think that is the biggest learning from this issue."

Folger further stated that things are getting complicated and we have to think more ahead of time. He also said that we cannot rely on government only. We have to seek clarity from other influences such as Supreme Court and NGT. This is the biggest lesson learnt.

Folger further said, "For future changes, we hope any ambiguity related to the implementation of BS VI norms shall be clarified within the required time-frame, for the successful introduction of BS-VI norms, which will be financially and technically more challenging."