Latest Car News in India

Imported cars registration tax slashed by Maha govt

If you are a Mumbaikar and are thinking of buying Audi Q7 or the recently launched Mercedes Benz M Class SUV imported cars, you need not go out of the state to avoid the high registration tax as the state government has slashed the registration tax on imported cars and cars owned by companies. Notably, as Mumbai is the business capital of India, it is one of the largest markets for cars and following the high registration tax there were reports that people were registering their cars in states other than Maharashtra to avoid the higher taxes. It is here that most of the corporate car buying takes place but following the high taxes there was perhaps an adverse effect on corporate car sales in Maharashtra.

As per information available, Mumbai government was charging as high as 22 percent on petrol cars and 26 percent on diesel cars that are of the imported type or are owned by a company. Notably, there is no information about any change in the registration tax applicable on domestically produced cars purchased by individuals. Now the new registration tax will be 20 percent of the cost of the vehicle. It was in the last budget that the government has hiked the tax on imported and company owned cars while there was a slight increase of 2 percent and 4 percent on the registration of petrol and diesel cars respectively by individuals. Significantly, this was also resented by many car makers and institutions as it had adverse effect on the car sales in Maharashtra.

Being the business hub of the country, it is Mumbai that most of the national and international car makers target and it is there that most of the cars are launched first. The next destination is Delhi. However, due to a recent almost saturation of cars like situation, car makers have started shifting their focus on newer destinations such as New Delhi and other metros besides Tier II cities where though the demand is less but the market is still unexplored.