<s>[INST] The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has set a deadline of March 2023 for allrouch vehicle manufacturers to upgrade their engines to meet new emission norms that are similar to those in the South American country, Brazil. Among them is Ashok Leyland, who is one of the largest commercial vehicle manufacturers in Asia.
The company began its journey in 1948 and is a leading player in the truck and bus segment in India. It has divided its product range in the Indian market into four segments - (1) Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV), (2) Medium Commercial Vehicle (MCV), (3) Heavy Commercial Vehicle (HCV) and (4) Defence. In the context of the emission norms, Ashok Leyland will be affected across all four product segments it caters to.
The introduction of the new emission norms, called Bharat Stage Emission Standard (BSES)-VI norms, is likely to increase manufacturing costs of the company. It is expected that the company will pass on this additional cost of Rs 800,000 to Rs 1,000,000 (approximately US $11,000 to US $14,000) per vehicle to the end customers. The company's top officials, however, claim that the cost increase would not be prohibitive, but may affect sales volumes minimally.
The Ashok Leyland management is working on multiple strategies to minimize the impact of higher manufacturing costs resulting from the implementation of BSES-VI norms and as part of this effort, the company is planning to increase the prices but by a lower margin, in stages, to minimize the impact of the increased costs on the customers. This incremental approach to price increase may help the company maintain customers' trust by not burdening them with a sudden increase in prices.
In the past, the implementation of BSES-IV emission norms resulted in Ashok Leyland's sales volumes plummeting by 12 per cent. The management had expected a similar impact from the implementation of the new BSES-VI norms; however, the company's top officials claim that the adverse effects would be minimal due to the incremental price increase strategy.
Which of the following strategy(ies) is(are) described in the passage as likely to be used by Ashok Leyland to counter the negative impact of the BSES-VI norms:
I. Reducing the manufacturing costs
II. Passing on the costs to the consumers in stages
III. Increasing the prices by a margin of Rs. 800,000 to 1,000,000
Which of the strategies is it not likely to adopt?[/INST]