India’s Top Carmaker Blames High Taxes For Low Car Ownership
- Car affordability not tied to income, Maruti’s chairman says
- Tesla and Toyota have also criticized India’s tax regime
Just 7.5% of Indian households own a car.
Photographer: Sondeep Shankar/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
India’s biggest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., said government levies put vehicles beyond the reach of much of the population, adding to criticism of the country’s tax regime from Tesla Inc. and Toyota Motor Corp.
“Government policies are such that they treat cars as luxury products that need to be heavily taxed,” Maruti Chairman R.C. Bhargava said at an event in New Delhi Monday. “Car affordability is not at all related to income.”