Excise duty cut : Cars n Bikes going cheap !

If you are planning to buy a vehicle this year, rejoice. Two and three-wheelers, cars, buses as well as four-wheelers will are likely to set you back by less.

Cars could be cheaper by Rs. 7,000 to Rs. 19,000, depending on the model and its variants. Two-wheelers would be cheaper by Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 5,000, industry experts said.

Car market leader Maruti Suzuki India Limited said it has passed on the full benefit of excise duty reduction to customers. The company has announced price reduction in all six models that qualify for the lower excise benefit: Maruti 800, Omni, Zen, Wagon R, Swift Diesel and Alto.

Hyundai said the company has decided to pass on the benefit of the excise duty cut to customers on three models, Santro, i10 and the Getz with immediate effect.

We will be cutting the prices of our small cars between Rs 7,500 and Rs 14,000, General Motors India vice-president P Balendran said.

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has proposed that the excise duty on small cars, two, three wheelers, buses and their chassis is brought down to 12 per cent from 16 per cent, while in case of hybrid cars the duty will be lowered to 14 per cent from the current 24 per cent.

Small car is defined as one with petrol engine capacity upto 1.2 litres and diesel engine upto 1.4 litres and 4 metres length.

Honda Siel Cars India senior general manager G. Sen expressed disappointment that the gap in excise duty between small cars and big cars has been further widened, but exuded confidence that the reduction in excise duty on hybrid cars would enable the company to import hybrid vehicles from the parent Japanese car company.

Hyundai Motors India Ltd. vice-president (marketing and sales) Arvind Saxena said the government decision to reduce excise duties was a welcome decision. The move will help the auto industry grow, specially the small cars segment which constitutes 78 per cent of the market, he said.

News : Hero Honda reduces prices of bikes

Subsequent to the announcement of the excise duty cut in the Union Budget, Hero Hero on Friday announced a reduction in the prices of its motorcycles in the range of Rs 1,000- Rs 3,400 across all its models. In response to the budget, earlier during the day, Hero Honda Managing Director, Mr Pawan Munjal had said "It is an extremely well-alanced budget. The excise duty cut will be passed on to the consumers."

News : Honda Siel expects approval for Civic Hybrid soon

Mr T. Oyama, President & CEO, Asian Honda Motor Co, and Mr M. Takedagawa, President & CEO, Honda Siel Cars India (right), at Honda’s new production facility at Greater Noida on Monday.

Honda Siel Cars India on Monday said that it expects to receive homologation for its Civic Hybrid from the Automotive Research Association of India within the next 10 days.

The company also said that while it did not expect much volumes from the hybrid car, it was primarily to showcase its technological competitiveness.

“Even if we sell 300-500 units of Civic Hybrid, it is okay. Our purpose is to show the technology which has been present in other countries,” said Mr Masahiro Takedagawa, President and CEO, Honda Siel Cars India, at the inauguration of its facility in Greater Noida.

Mr Takedagawa said that the company planned to sell 90,000 units next fiscal, a growth of 35 per cent compared to the current fiscal. Its new sports utility vehicle CR-V, sedans Accord and Civic Hybrid would contribute to increased sales. Honda is also looking at expanding its dealership network over the next three years to establish its presence in newer cities.

“By the end of March, we would have 80 dealerships in 51 cities. In the next three years, we would double our dealerships to 160 by adding 39 new cities,” said Mr Jnaneswar Sen, Senior General Manager, Sales.

Honda has expanded its capacity at its plant in Greater Noida to one lakh units from 50,000 units. Besides this, the company’s second plant which is being commissioned at Rajasthan could also be scaled to over 2.5 lakh units per annum from its initial capacity of 60,000 units.

The company plans to use its Greater Noida facility to manufacture its current range of products and the second plant in Rajasthan for compact cars. This includes Jazz, a premium hatchback, which is being considered, and another small car for which the company has begun work and expects to roll out in three- four years time.

Maruti receives appreciation award from CBEC

Car market leader Maruti Suzuki India Ltd on Monday said it has received an appreciation award from Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), Finance Ministry, for its contribution to the national exchequer.

The company has paid a gross excise of Rs 2,635 crore to the government during the April-January period of the current fiscal, up 26.7 per cent over the same period of last fiscal, MSIL said in a statement. The appreciation award was given to the company by Finance Minister P Chidambaram on February 24.

News : Maruti pays Rs 2,635-Cr. excise

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) has been awarded by the Central Board of Excise and Customs under the Ministry of Finance for paying a gross excise of Rs 2,635 crore during April-January 2007-08, an increase of over 26.7 per cent compared to the corresponding period the previous fiscal. The Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, presented the award for its contribution to the national exchequer. The increase in excise payment in this fiscal is on account of higher sales by the company and a faster growth in higher value models, Maruti Suzuki said in a statement.