Electric vehicles are gaining velocity inarguably with now even state government coming into the play. This week Gujarat announced subsidy on EVs which in in addition to the subsidy provided by the Centre. European car brand Skoda, however, is in no hurry to launch EVs in India. Here is a complete look at what else made headlines in the auto space during the week.
Maruti Suzuki to raise prices
Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest manufacturer of passenger vehicles, will increase car prices in the July-September quarter to offset input price hikes.
This will be the second round of price increase by the Delhi-based company in this financial year. The maker of Swift and Baleno had raised prices by around 1.6 percent in the April-June quarter.
Gujarat announces subsidy on EVs
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on June 22 announced the state government’s four-year policy for electric vehicles thus becoming the fourth state to offer subsidies on battery-powered vehicles.
A subsidy of up to Rs 20,000 on electric two-wheelers, up to Rs 50,000 on electric three-wheelers and up to Rs 1,50,000 on electric four-wheelers will be provided by the Gujarat government.
Hero to raise prices by Rs 3,000
The impact of the coronavirus pandemic has had long lasting effects across the automobile spectrum. Auto manufacturers have already been raising prices across the board and the latest entry into the hike lineup is Hero MotoCorp.
Starting July 1, the Indian motorcycle manufacturing company will be raising prices across its range. Prices are expected to go up by up to Rs 3,000.
Tata Motors MD to step down
Tata Motors Managing Director and CEO Guenter Butschek will step down from his role from June 30, 2021 but will continue to serve as a consultant to the company till the end of FY22.
Butschek had informed his desire to relocate to Germany at the end of the contract for personal reasons.
Ashok Leyland lines up Rs 750 crore capex for FY22
Ashok Leyland, the country’s third-largest commercial vehicle maker, has lined up a capital expenditure of Rs 750 crore for FY22 but hopes to cut this down to conserve cash.
The Chennai-based truck and bus manufacturer announced a net profit of Rs 241 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 compared with a net loss of Rs 57 crore posted a year ago in the same period.
Skoda wont launch EVs using Kushaq platfrom
Skoda and Volkswagen will start their new innings in India with two new launches. Skoda will commence sales of a new SUV Kushaq in a few weeks which will be followed later by the Volkswagen Taigun. Both these SUVs are based on a common platform named MQBA0 modified specially for India.
But unlike its peers like Tata Motors, Volkswagen will not be able to use this new platform for electrification of its future range. Tata Motors’ Alfa and Omega architecture which are used in Altroz, Harrier and Safari are designed to support electrification programmes.
Skoda Auto CEO Thomas Schafer confirmed that for building electric cars for the future Skoda will be using the MEB architecture and not the MQBA0 platform. The Czech car brand has not finalised launch of any EV for the Indian market yet but said that a compact EV will be launched in Europe.
