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The budget shared by the Finance Minister has received a lot of flak from the automotive industry, but could there be a silver lining in this that could be capitalized upon?
It’s rather old news now that the recent budget has not done any good for the automotive industry. The hike on SUV excise duty to 30 per cent and the rather illogical hike on imported high end cars and bikes is rather hard to digest and hopefully sense will prevail and the industry eventually manages to get some rollbacks, but if we proceed status quo, there just might be a silver lining in this dark cloud hovering over the automotive industry.
While SUVs have been defined as a vehicle with a ground clearance of 170mm or more and a length more than 4000mm, this very rule opens up the scope for small SUVs. That’s right, the Mahindra Quanto and the upcoming Ford EcoSport are exempt from this rule and will continue to benefit from the small car excise policy that the Government offers. Having said that, it makes sense for other manufacturers to look at this segment in a new light and hopefully capitalize on it in the near future.
On my visit to the 2013 Geneva Motor Show recently, I chanced upon the Suzuki Jimny. This is a vehicle that could make it to India and has the potential to be a top contender amongst this new breed of small urban SUVs. Already available in global markets, the Jimny is just 3695mm from its front bumper all the way to the rear spare mounted on the back and comes fitted with a 1.3 litre VVT petrol engine.
For India, the Jimny could get the 1.2VVT petrol and the famed 1.3DDiS diesel mill under its hood, which would make it a formidable contender in the small city SUV space. Further to this, the Jimny is already available in a right-hand drive version, so what the equation boils down to is the manufacturing set up for this vehicle in India-a call that Maruti Suzuki should look at investing in rather quickly. After all, this is a company that has dominated the small car space and it only makes sense for them to take the fight into this new market space at the earliest.
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Readers' opinions ( 9 )
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m s reddy
need the cars like qualis for indian roads,its economical,low maintain charges and re sale value.i am still using toyota qualis last 10 years(3lak kms driven)m s reddyhyderabad
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game san
ecosport is going to eat suzuki jimni for breakfast.If Fiat takes back multijet from Suzuki then suzuki will have to close shops in india like they did at USA
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Nitin
I take a long drive of Jimny in Kenya in Jan. 2013. Jimny is a good car for Indian Road Conditions, ground clearance is very good but high speed handling is not good, rear legroom is cramped. but overall package is good for mini SUV lovers.
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varun
i expected this SUV longtime back but i dn't understand why till now suzuki din't considered it to INDIAN market.For me a gypsy with DDIS engine,a/c,with hardtop is enough,surely it will create wonders.
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chaitu
If maruthi introduces Gypsy with DDi diesel engine. it will be the hot cake in the market.
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