We would encourage the government not to just
"Hitting out at the Budget proposals, Audi India Head Joe King said: "Government has not announced any positive initiatives for the industry which contributes so heavily to the manufacturing sector and overall economy. The taxation (infra cess) has come as a dampener and will effect demand, creating challenges towards sustainable growth," he said.Expressing disappointment, Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra tweeted: "In summary, despite our disappointment on the tax on cars, I see no reason for the mayhem in the market. Reacting to the proposals, Maruti Suzuki chairperson R. Bhargava said: "Obviously it will lead to rise in prices.
Taking older vehicles off the road should be a priority for the government.Singling out diesel vehicles, Mr Jaitley decided to impose 2.C.Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) senior vice-president (marketing and sales) Rakesh Srivastava said the infrastructure cess has come as a "dampener" for the auto industry.""Taxing the luxury cars will be deterrent for the growth of the industry.With car prices all set to go up from Rs 2,000 on mass market vehicles to over Rs 1 lakh on big diesel SUVs and sedans due to levy of ‘infrastructure cess’ of up to 4 per cent, industry players are seeing red over the move. Renault India Operations Country CEO and Managing Director Sumit Sawhney said: "Although the budget didn’t have much for the automobile sector, we are hopeful for some pro-business policies on a continual basis to benefit the industry.Later in the day, Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) senior vice-president (marketing and sales) Jnaneswar Sen said: "We plan to hike product prices ranging from Rs 4,000 to Rs 80,000. Additional cesses may disincentivise passenger vehicle customers, impacting the industry.5 per cent cess on diesel vehicles of length not exceeding 4 metre and engine capacity not exceeding 1,500 cc, while higher engine capacity and SUVs and bigger sedans were slapped a cess of 4 per cent on the value of the car."Nissan India operations president Guillaume Sicard said the cess will definitely have an impact on the prices. Hinduja said the auto sector will stand to benefit by the proposed amendment to the Motor Vehicles Act to allow the private sector participation in the passenger vehicle segment."A Tata Motors spokesperson said: "While the passenger vehicle industry has been facing challenges over last few years, it has barely begun to show some signs of recovery." Hinduja Group of Companies (India) chairman Ashok P. It came as a surprise for us as we were not expecting such a cess.
"We do not foresee that to be a major burden for small car buyers but the luxury cars and SUVs will feel the heat," he added."Expressing displeasure, Toyota Kirloskar Motor vice-chairman and whole-time Custom Wayfinding Signage Manufacturers director Shekar Viswanathan said: "We would encourage the government not to just think based on size of vehicle which has no relation to the technology."According to industry estimates, the increase in prices could range from Rs 2,500 on entry level small cars such as Maruti Alto or Tata Nano and can go over a lakh of rupees on high-end vehicles which are priced above Rs 30 lakh.. We expected some reforms in the duty structure, which could have infused growth in the sector and provided more jobs," Mercedes-Benz India managing director & CEO Roland Folger said."The auto industry has been experiencing growth challenges and there was an expectation of a scrappage scheme to remove high emission and low mileage vehicles.These are over and above a cess of 1 per cent on petrol/ LPG/CNG driven vehicles of length not exceeding 4 metre and engine capacity not exceeding 1,200cc. "There is no presentation on roadmap for GST implementation, additional Incentives for Electric Vehicles and Hybrids under FAME Scheme and the plan for Vehicle Scrappage scheme which is damper," Sicard said
