Only Toyota strong hybrid vehicles (Innova Hycross, Hyryder, Camry) bought from Espirit Toyota, registered in Uttar Pradesh, are eligible for 100% road tax waiver.
India is emerging as a major market for automobiles globally and poses as a lucrative proposition for car manufacturers. In the recent past, the Indian government has given a big push towards electrification. To further boost EV sales, there are various incentives and subsidies such as RTO tax exemptions that EVs enjoy. Hybrids miss out on these.
Toyota Strong Hybrid Vehicles Get 100% Road Tax Waiver?
In a rather bizarre turn of events, a Toyota dealership in Delhi NCR claims to be offering 100% road tax exemption for powerful hybrid cars. Yes, you read that right. 100% road tax exemption for strong hybrid cars, making them much cheaper to buy when OTR prices are brought into the picture.
We are talking about the official Toyota dealership based in Delhi NCR called Espirit Toyota. The agency attracts a lot of attention with its marketing materials. “Drive Hybrid, Support Environment and Save Big,” Espirit Toyota's marketing materials were posted on social media about 5 days ago.
Espirit Toyota promises 100% road tax exemption, which will make the Camry executive sedan up to Rs 4.4 lakh cheaper, the Innova Hycross up to Rs 3.1 lakh cheaper and the Hyryder up to Rs 2 lakh cheaper cheap. These are interesting offers that should attract buyers and boost sales. It should be noted that the offer does not include the Toyota Vellfire, which is also a powerful hybrid car.
However, there is a catch. Espirit Toyota promises to waive 100% road tax only for registrations in Uttar Pradesh. This is interesting and suggests that the UP state government has come up with a plan or something to boost sales of powerful hybrid cars.
It may be noted that Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari is pushing for a reduction in the GST on powerful hybrid vehicles to 12%, from the currently included rate of 45%. If this is achieved, implementation will be at the state level and not in the hands of individual state governments. Nitin Gadkari is yet to talk about removing road tax on powerful hybrid vehicles.
What is this offer?
For now, it is not clear whether this is a dealer-level offer or the UP government is preparing a special incentive for powerful hybrid vehicles. Either way, this will significantly reduce the upfront costs of powerful hybrids and attract more buyers to purchase powerful hybrids. So far, only electric cars are exempt from 100% road tax and the same may apply to powerful hybrid vehicles (not confirmed).
If materialised, we would like it to be a national incentive rather than relying on state governments to implement it. For reference, the Toyota Camry is a hybrid-only car and has a starting price of Rs 46.17 lakh (Ex-sh). The hybrid variants of the Innova Hycross start at Rs 25.97 lakh (Ex-sh) and the Hyryder from Rs 16.66 lakh (Ex-sh).
Also Read: How to Prepare Your Car for a Long Journey?
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