GST: No change in plans for hybrid cars despite increased tax, says Toyota

Under GST, prices of Toyota's popular hybrid sedan Camry have gone up by an average of Rs 3 lakh

Toyota Kirloskar Motor today said it will not change its plans for hybrid vehicles in India despite an increase in tax rates on the category of vehicles under GST resulting in higher prices.

Under the new tax regime, prices of the company's popular hybrid sedan Camry have gone up by an average of Rs 3 lakh.

The model, which is assembled at the company's Bengaluru plant, now costs around Rs 35 lakh as against Rs 33 lakh earlier.

Hybrid vehicles are on the same slab as luxury cars at 28 per cent GST plus 15 per cent cess at present. At 43 per cent, total tax incidence on these vehicles is higher from the previous effective tax rate of 30.3 per cent.

"We will continue with this journey of hybrid vehicles in India. Our commitment remains the same and we believe that this technology is good for the environment," Toyota Kirloskar Motor Senior Vice President and Director N Raja told PTI here.

He said the higher tax rate under GST has come as a setback but the company would continue its pursuit to find new customers.

"What has happened with GST is that hybrid customers, who are mostly large business owners are busy sorting out their businesses to comply with the new tax system. So, it's taking time for enquiries to convert into deliveries, " Raja said.

On the overall impact of GST, he said in June the company delivered about 2,000 units to its dealers in order to avoid a stock pile up in the run-up to its implementation. In the prior months, the company delivered around 12,000 units.

"From July we have resumed normal delivery and we expect to make up for the loss in June in the next three months," he said.

Commenting on the industry growth prospects, Raja said," We believe that the industry will grow around 6-7 per cent and we should be able to keep pace with the same."

TKM today launched smartphone application, Toyota Connect India to provide assistance to its customers for service, roadside assistance and navigation.

"This has been launched keeping in mind the nature of our customers who are tech savvy and are expecting easier and convenient car ownership," Raja said.

The app available for Android and iOS will be free to customers for the first year and TKM will decide later on whether it would be subscription based depending on customer response, he said.