Maruti to Mercedes: Every car and every bike in India to cost more – Budget 2012

Mr Pranab Mukherjee, Minister of Finance, Government of India has presented Indian citizens a gift-wrapped time bomb in the name of Budget 2012. According to Budget 2012, every car sold in India is going to get dearer. India’s highest selling car, Maruti Suzuki Alto will be dearer by Rs 4,500 to Rs 6,000 while Mercedes C Class, which is priced around Rs 30 lacs currently, will be expensive by Rs 1.5 lacs.

Car’s powered by engines, which are bigger than 1500 cc, will now be levied with 27% excise duty, instead of the current 22%. This will affect price of sedans and SUV’s sold in India in a major way. Honda City is expected to get dearer by Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000 whereas recently launched Mahindra XUV500 SUV will get expensive by Rs 35,000. Customs duty on imported SUV’s too has been increased from 60% to 75%.

Excise duty, which stood at 10% last year, will now be increased to 12% – resulting in a price hike which will not leave any car or motorcycle or anything that runs on fuel. Every car manufacturer in India – Tata, Maruti, Hyundai, Honda, Ford, GM, Toyota, Mercedes Benz, Audi , BMW and many more will soon be increasing prices of their cars. Even two wheeler manufacturers will be hiking prices by upto Rs 2,000.

According to Mr Shinzo Nakanishi, MD, Maruti Suzuki India, “The increase in excise duty will hurt automobiles, especially when the industry is battling slowdown.” Following is a chart, which will give you an idea about how Budget 2012 will affect best selling cars in India;

Maruti Alto – Rs 4500 to Rs 6000

Hyundai Eon – Rs 5000+

Maruti Swift – Rs 8000 to Rs 11000

Maruti DZire – Rs 8000 to Rs 13000

Hyundai Verna – Rs 11500+

Honda City – Rs 12000 to Rs 15000

Toyota Corolla – Rs 26500 to Rs 35200

Toyota Fortuner – Rs 80000

Mahindra XUV500 W8 – Rs 35000

Mercedes Benz C Class – Rs 150000