‘Best time to buy diesel car’: Companies pitch offers as BSVI norms near

Ahead of the BSVI norms that take effect on April 1, 2020, passenger vehicle makers are pulling out all stops to woo the buyers in a bid to beat the price hike of 8-15 per cent on diesel models

If someone is looking at buying a diesel car, there can’t be a better time. Ahead of the BSVI norms that take effect on April 1, 2020, passenger vehicle makers are pulling out all stops to woo the buyers in a bid to beat the price hike of 8-15 per cent on diesel models.

Based on the engine size and body type, the gap between the acquisition cost of a diesel vehicle and its gasoline counterpart, which is close to Rs 110,000 to Rs 115,000, is expected to go up to Rs 170,000 to Rs 200,000 once the new emission norms kick in.

Depending on the make and model, buyers of diesel variants can avail of several benefits ranging from a hefty exchange bonus, cash discounts, and extended warranty. The offers come amid one of the worst and prolonged slowdowns that the automobile industry is witnessing. Auto sales in India have been on a decline for the past 13 months. Companies are hoping to minimise the decline in volumes with the sales push during the festive season. The two-month-long festive season began with Ganesh Chaturthi on Monday.

“I think, this is best time to buy a BSIV diesel car,” said Shashank Srivastava, executive director, sales and marketing, Maruti Suzuki India. Rajan Wadhera, president automotive sector, Mahindra and Mahindra, also agreed. If one is looking to buy a diesel vehicle, personal or commercial, the time is now,” said Wadhera.

GST cess hike on cars from today: Luxury, large cars, SUVs get expensive

Auto companies may pass on impact of cess increase to buyers

 

The increased Goods and Services (GST) cess on mid- sized, luxury and SUV cars will come into effect on Monday.

The GST Council on September 9 decided to hike cess on mid-sized cars by 2 per cent, taking the effective GST rate to 45 per cent.

Also, cess on large cars has been hiked by 5 per cent, taking the total GST incidence to 48 per cent while that of SUVs by 7 per cent to 50 per cent.

"Notification regarding increase in the effective rates of the Compensation Cess on specified motor vehicles will be issued on September 11, 2017, effective from 00 hours the same day," the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) tweeted.

After the GST Council meet on Saturday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that in large vehicles where affordability of consumers is high, the cess has been increased.

"The pre-GST rate has not been restored... Even though we had a headspace of hiking cess by 10 per cent, it has been hiked by up to 7 per cent," Jaitley had said.

Cess on small petrol and diesel cars, hybrid cars and those carrying up to 13 passengers has not been hiked.

Car prices had dropped by up to Rs 3 lakh as the tax rates fixed under the GST, which came into effect from July 1, were lower than the combined central and state taxes in pre-GST days.

To fix this anomaly, the Council raised the cess.

Under the GST regime, cars attract the highest tax slab of 28 per cent and on top of that, a cess is levied....READ MORE