In another instance of an automaker negatively affected by India’s inconsistent taxation policies, Toyota Kirloskar Motor is having second thoughts about continuing the Toyota Camry Hybrid in the market. The company will have to pull the plug off the hybrid sedan if the government continues levying hefty taxes on HEVs.
Speaking to The Telegraph recently, Akito Tachibana, MD, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, said: “If the government does not rethink on the taxation of hybrid cars, we will have to pull out our hybrid offering in Camry and go back to pure internal combustion engines.” While the government abruptly plans to shift the demand from conventional petrol/diesel cars to directly EVs, Toyota, like most automakers, sees hybrid cars quintessential to the transition.
The Toyota Camry Hybrid was one of the best-selling HEVs in India once. With the GST implementation last year, however, its sales plummeted from about 100 cars a month to about 35 units a month. This was because the car’s price went straight up from INR 31.98 lakh* to INR 37.22 lakh*. The local taxes levied on PVs are also very high, and this meant the on-road price increasing to about INR 42 lakh. Due to the adverse impact on sales, TKM had to stop assembling the car for four months.
Also See: Toyota badged Maruti Baleno – IAB Rendering
There’s still no word on when the tenth-gen Toyota Camry, which debuted in January last year, will reach India.
*Ex-showroom New Delhi
[Source: The Telegraph]
