Duty cuts put UK luxury cars in fast lane in India; prices may drop by Rs 1-3 crore

New Delhi | Mumbai: Elite automotive marques Rolls-Royce, Aston Martin, McLaren and Land Rover are set to get cheaper as the India-UK free trade pact takes effect July 15, slashing customs duty on fully imported cars to 30% from the current 110%. This will apply on an allotted quota of 20,000 such cars made in the UK and imported into India in the first year.

Most companies are still to list new prices.

Industry experts expect reductions of 20-25%, translating to savings of Rs 1-3 crore, depending on the vehicle. This, they said, would trigger a doubling of high-end car sales in India in the short to medium term.

Yadur Kapur, CEO, Select Cars, which represents Rolls-Royce and Aston Martin in India said, “there will be a substantial revision in prices” of fully imported vehicles. He said companies are yet to reveal official prices, but “we are already seeing a massive interest among our customers. We expect significant growth in this segment near term.”

UK-based Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), which already dropped prices on the imported Range Rover Sport SV and Range Rover SV models, expects the share of imported vehicles to total volumes in India to rise to 7-10% near term.

Imported vehicles currently make up about 3-4% of JLR India’s sales, but the figure is expected to rise going forward as the reduced customs duties would improve affordability, said a person aware of the matter. While enquiries have gone up after JLR’s recent price cut announcement and confirmation of the FTA implementation, potential buyers have delayed purchases as they await the pact’s official rollout.