Finally, after the big drama over Union Budget amendment, now the leading SUV maker of India had bowed to government’s official for the hike in taxation over ground clearance consideration.
It was slated in the way, UVs which are having more than 1500cc engine and are extending the 4 metres mark, “with ground clearance of more than 170mm” their excise duties will be hiked from 27% to 30%. So in order, our earlier posts had also mentioned about Mahindra working on the same to reduce the complexities of this government created hassle. Even Mr. Pawan Goenka, President, Automotive and Farm Equipment sector too had showed disappointment over this issue.
As of now, to counter the effect Mahindra had finally engulfed its XUV500 with lower ground clearance i.e. at 160mm and had also reduced its price by Rs. 27,000 on the lower end spec W6 trim, and Rs. 33,000 on the higher end trim W8. These are an outcome of not attracting those 3% additional excise duties, and hence carmaker had passed on same benefits to the customer. To protect the engine in uneven roads automaker had also deployed stone guard underneath.
Commenting on this, Mr. Pawan Goenka stated, “The reduced ground clearance of the XUV does in no way affect the ride and handling of the vehicle. On the contrary, it has become more robust. We are evaluating whether the changed parameters can be applied to other vehicles. We are looking at the feasibility of a smaller power train for the Bolero, but that would take a minimum of 18 months to develop. The Scorpio is a power and performance-driven vehicle, and there is no way that we will look at a lower power train for it. We may consider a lower ground clearance for the Scorpio as well.”
Meanwhile, the vehicles with lowered ground clearance have been already dispatched to dealers, and sales are expected to commence by this week itself. Indian carmaker is also expecting 10%-15% improved sales figure for this month.
