If you are one of those who grabbed a pre-GST discount on a cars or bikes, good move! But if you were one of those who stuck their necks out and waited for the new rates to kick in, even better! Unless, of course, you were buying a hybrid car or a large capacity motorcycle.
Cars and bikes have gotten significantly cheaper as companies have reduced the ex-showroom price which is calculated before levying taxes. However, don’t expect the price to be cheaper in all states, as the most important component that differentiates on-road prices across the country – road tax – has been left out of the ambit of GST.
Also read: GST Discounts on Cars and Bikes
GST has subsumed other taxes such as sales tax (state and centre), excise, countervailing duty, and VAT. But road tax has been left as a state subject and hence cars in Karnataka and Maharashtra continue to be among the most expensive in the country.
How Much Cheaper?
Across the board, most cars and bikes have become cheaper, with SUVs getting the biggest benefit, with taxes falling from 55.3 percent earlier to 43 percent overall now. Hence there are big drops in prices on SUVs.
The Isuzu MU-X gets Rs 3 lakh off (it had a pre-GST offer of about Rs 1.5 lakh off). Toyota Fortuner is nearly Rs 3 lakh cheaper. Nissan Terrano is Rs 1.2 lakh cheaper. Before GST kicked in, Nissan was offering Rs 90,000 off on the Terrano to clear stocks.
Overall, most of the other price drops are in line with the discounts that were being offered on cars and bikes to clear inventory before GST, while some are seeing even bigger drops.
The only ones not happy with the prices are the makers of hybrid cars – genuine hybrid cars that is. Toyota Camry, Honda Accord and Toyota Prius will become significantly more expensive.
Electric cars barely get a change in prices, and will still be hoping for a subsidy from the government to make them more viable. The government had discontinued the FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles) scheme last year, which offered subsidies to buyers.
So if you are in the market for a car or bike, this is a good time to pick one up. And if you took delivery just before GST kicked in, fret not, most of the discounts were quite good, almost matching the post-GST rates in some cases.
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