We aren't carrying an old piece of news - the government is now considering levying an additional tax in the form of additional excise duty or surcharge on diesel SUVs. This is in addition to the 50p/month increase in diesel prices.
The government was previously considering increasing tax on all diesel cars, but it met with a lot of opposition from the auto industry so it has now changed tack and is mulling the extra tax only on diesel SUVs. Considering the UV market grew at over 59 per cent from April to December last year, while the overall market grew at a little less than 8.5 per cent, it stands to reason that the UV sector is consuming most of the diesel fuel sold to passenger cars.
Whether the government will go through with its decision will be seen during the budget in April; the one manufacturer that stands to lose the most from this is Mahindra and Mahindra, which has 47.6 per cent market share in the UV segment. No other manufacturer has such a big presence in the diesel SUV space.
Source: Business Standard
