SC bans sale of BS-III vehicles: Hero MotoCorp, Ashok Leyland tumble

NEW DELHI: Shares of auto majors came under heavy selling pressure in the afternoon trade on Wednesday after the Supreme Court banned the sale of non-BS IV vehicles from April 1, 2017.

Reacting on the ruling, shares of two-wheeler major Hero MotoCorp slipped 2.68 per cent as the company holds highest inventory of BS-III vehicles, reports said. Ashok Leyland slipped more than 2.80 per cent.

Nifty Auto index, which was trading in the green ahead of the decision, plunged and ended down by 0.43 per cent at 9,845.75 in the afternoon trade. Ashok Leyland was the biggest loser in the Nifty Auto pack.

Supreme Court in a ruling on Wednesday said that public health is more important than inventories.

The apex court further said that manufacturers were fully aware of the April 1 deadline in advance.

Other auto majors such as Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Maruti Suzuki were fell by up t0 0.67 per cent.