[khanak]

Originally Posted by flyingspur

Bottomline is I'm not happy with the cent duty and I can't possibly be pleased by people saying things like let the rich guys pay up if they want luxuries or arre bas sirf 100, 200 banaa dene ka na! phir sab khush! What BS.

Who isn't? I get frustrated too. Its always bad when you work your butt off and pay taxes for someone else to enjoy the benefits but thats just the way it is. Even abroad, there are a lot of tax payers that are pissed off when they are made to pay wellfare money to the unemployed, some of whom are perfectly capable of getting a job.

[khanak]

Originally Posted by flyingspur

Keep an open mind my friend. I'm trying to think of solutions here. Atleast I'm suggesting something.

I appreciate the fact that you are taking the time to reply to my posts in an intelligent manner. I like the way you are basing your arguments on facts and logic instead of just saying something like Ohhh India is BS without knowing the background. cheers: to you.

[zaks]

Easy guys, remember, it's just a car after all! I also approve the protectionist policy that our beloved Nehruji adopted when we gained independence. If not we would have remained a mass importer of manufactured goods and overly dependent on other countries for engineering goods; that was some good foresightedness on Nehru. But like all outdated laws we continue the same legal system because of our inertia to change, we are hell bent to maintain status quo. The reservation policy is an excellent example of this nature.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by khanak

I guess it was my fault for not being clear.

It is protection for companies with production facilities in India but not protection for companies based in India which IMO is a good thing. This way we have the option of getting any car any manufacturer in the world wants to make in India while ensuring that that car is made in India.

Is this protectionism or a license to rob the Indian consumer just because someone has a manufacturing facility here and still doesnt prices its product right?
The industry wont self regulate and government has no regulatory policy on the pricing of Automobiles... so where do we go now?

[khanak]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

Is this protectionism or a license to rob the Indian consumer just because someone has a manufacturing facility here and still doesnt prices its product right?
The industry wont self regulate and government has no regulatory policy on the pricing of Automobiles... so where do we go now?

Well the regulation that should be in place is competition from other companies that have their plants here too. A company that charges too much will fail as consumers will chose the lower priced product. Thats why the Getz failed when the Swift came in and was priced lower than the Getz.

I guess the amounth of localised content also comes into play here. I guess the reason why cars become more expensive here as compared to abroad is because manufacturers see the more expensive cars as cars that will not sell in enough numbers to justify producing every part in India. The government will still charge import duty on the imported parts which drives the cost up. I wonder what % of a 3 Series is made in India.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by khanak

Well the regulation that should be in place is competition from other companies that have their plants here too. A company that charges too much will fail as consumers will chose the lower priced product. Thats why the Getz failed when the Swift came in and was priced lower than the Getz.

I guess the amounth of localised content also comes into play here. I guess the reason why cars become more expensive here as compared to abroad is because manufacturers see the more expensive cars as cars that will not sell in enough numbers to justify producing every part in India. The government will still charge import duty on the imported parts which drives the cost up. I wonder what % of a 3 Series is made in India.

Dont you think manufacturers will lobby and still wont let the prices go down?
Does anyone even bothers why a 13 lakh rupee C-Class when imported as a CKD costs us upwards of 32 lakhs!!!! And if competition is the catalyst as you say, we should have got the BMW's 3 Series for cheap. If this isnt lobbying then whats is?

Here's another example of apathy, who else but the government officials who are meant to protect and this happened in Delhi!
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...mo-driver.html

[khanak]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

Dont you think manufacturers will lobby and still wont let the prices go down?
Does anyone even bothers why a 13 lakh rupee C-Class when imported as a CKD costs us upwards of 32 lakhs!!!! And if competition is the catalyst as you say, we should have got the BMW's 3 Series for cheap. If this isnt lobbying then whats is?

By lobbying do you mean collusion? AFAIK Collusion is illegal and if the companies are found to be fixing prices it can result in legal action against them.


Why isnt the price of a C Class or 3 Series going down despite fierce competition between them? Maybe the limited numbers dont justify making all the components in India which will result in a lower price. The A4 in the Indian market is completely imported whcih results in 1xx% dute but still costs around the same as a 3 series or a c class made in India. This is because Audi is aware of the competition and hence will reduce the price of its A4 in order to remain competitive in the market.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by khanak

By lobbying do you mean collusion? AFAIK Collusion is illegal and if the companies are found to be fixing prices it can result in legal action against them.

Do you think there's rule of law here? Give some money to officials and anything and everything can be done, you can even influence government policies.

Originally Posted by khanak

Why isnt the price of a C Class or 3 Series going down despite fierce competition between them? Maybe the limited numbers dont justify making all the components in India which will result in a lower price. The A4 in the Indian market is completely imported whcih results in 1xx% dute but still costs around the same as a 3 series or a c class made in India. This is because Audi is aware of the competition and hence will reduce the price of its A4 in order to remain competitive in the market.

The C and the 3 series are both assembled here resulting in much lower import duty (35-40% ??) which should mean that they should cost anywhere b/w 18-23 lakh rupees figuring in the cost of setting up an assembly line. 32 lakhs is still way off the mark.

Audi is readying its assembly line in Aurangabad??? and they are not doing any charity by giving us the A4 at the same price as BMW or a Merc. If you calculate, the A4 + 105% duty will work out cheapar than its price here. So while the construction of their assembly line is under progress they arent making a fortune selling every car but still a very very handsome amount every car. They last mover will have some disadvantage... dont you think?

[khanak]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

The C and the 3 series are both assembled here resulting in much lower import duty (35-40% ??) which should mean that they should cost anywhere b/w 18-23 lakh rupees figuring in the cost of setting up an assembly line. 32 lakhs is still way off the mark.

Audi is readying its assembly line in Aurangabad??? and they are not doing any charity by giving us the A4 at the same price as BMW or a Merc. If you calculate, the A4 + 105% duty will work out cheapar than its price here. So while the construction of their assembly line is under progress they arent making a fortune selling every car but still a very very handsome amount every car. They last mover will have some disadvantage... dont you think?

The C Class and 3 Series have no import duty as they are not imported. Import duty is only charged on the imported components.

I know Audi isnt doing us a favour by pricing the A4 at the same price as the 3 and the C, theyre doing what they can to remain competitive in the market.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by khanak

The C Class and 3 Series have no import duty as they are not imported. Import duty is only charged on the imported components.

The import duty is always there albeit a lot lower (less than 40%) because the cars are assembled here! They are brought as completely knocked down kits with vital components still imported but some amount of local content also involved.

[khanak]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

The import duty is always there albeit a lot lower (less than 40%) because the cars are assembled here! They are brought as completely knocked down kits with vital components still imported but some amount of local content also involved.

CKD import duty is a lot less. I was of the opinion that the cars are manufactured in India and not just assembled.

[FlyingSpur]

Originally Posted by khanak

CKD import duty is a lot less. I was of the opinion that the cars are manufactured in India and not just assembled.

Percentage duty I am not aware of, sorry. But the fact that they're only assembled in India is true.

[khanak]

Originally Posted by flyingspur

Percentage duty I am not aware of, sorry. But the fact that they're only assembled in India is true.

I googled it and found out that it is at 85%

Duty cut on knocked-down cars likely

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by khanak

I googled it and found out that it is at 85%

Duty cut on knocked-down cars likely

Thats a year 2003 article!!!!

[1100D]

Repeating the simple question

Honda Civic EX retails in US at around $18000 corresponding to Rs 7,20,000 (@Rs40 TO $1)
Toyota Corolla LE (2009 model) retails at around $16500 corresponding to Rs 6,60,000

What cars would these amounts fetch in the Indian scenario?
Is it the case of the companies having deliberately priced these cars higher?
What component of the total price of the car is the Tax?
What is the justification for that percentage of the total price of the car being tax (Meaning, how many people will be given their Rs2/kg rice for every lakh I shell out for my car) ? Given that these cars are said to be locally manufactured.

Creating a gap between locally manufactured cars vs the imported ones are fine. But if you tax the locally manufactured car itself quite heavily, the pricing of the imported ones CBU/SKD/CKD (whatever) go insanely absurd.