Honda Cars India (HCIL) on Tuesday said it was ready to bring more hybrid cars from its global portfolio to India but needed more government support.
The company is even ready to invest more in its factory for assembling such cars, Yoichiro Ueno, President and Chief Executive Officer, Honda Cars India, told reporters here on the sidelines of the Hybrid Accord launch.
“We are selling some of the hybrids globally. It all depends on the acceptance of the consumers,” he said.
Hybrid is the technology for future, Ueno said, adding that HCIL would like to work with the government to harmonise the need for human mobility and taking care of the environment.
Stating that the company was prepared to play its role toward environmentally-friendly and sustainable mobility, Ueno sought government support. He said Honda had more hybrid cars in the small car segments too and could bring them to India if the government has stronger plans for hybrids and electric vehicles.
However, at present, the Centre has only one subsidy policy, Ueno said, adding that there could be subsidies at different levels and government can consider more advanced options.
He said even the latest Accord does not attract the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric (FAME) scheme, wherein consumers get benefits on value added tax (VAT).
Honda will sell the Accord Hybrid as a completely built unit (CBU) and as per limited government schemes customers will get certain tax benefits.
For example, in a few cities, customers will get benefits on countervailing duty, which is equivalent to excise duty, and has more slabs of 12.5 per cent and additional 5 per cent discount on VAT “like in Delhi, where the price is lower”, according to Jnaneshwar Sen, Senior Vice-President (Sales and Marketing) of HCIL.
The new Hybrid Accord is priced at ₹37 lakh (Delhi), ₹40.14 lakh (Navi Mumbai) and ₹40.57 lakh (Bengaluru) – all ex-showroom prices.
India is the sixth country globally where Honda has launched the Accord Hybrid since its debut earlier this year. Since its launch in India in 2001, Honda Accord has sold 27,000 units.