In the past few days, automobile manufacturing companies have been announcing the savings that customers will reap, as the new GST reforms have slashed taxes on cars and motorcycles. Mahindra & Mahindra has passed on benefits of up to ₹1.56 lakh to its customers from September 6, while other manufacturers’ price cuts will be effective from September 22, the day the new GST rates come into effect. This allows Mahindra to attract more customers before the Navaratri festivities commence, thereby gaining a march over its competition. 

In Mahindra’s ICE SUV portfolio, the XUV300 diesel version leads the cuts with ₹1.56 lakh, while its petrol version’s price tag comes down by ₹1.40 lakh. The 2WD Thar can help save ₹1.35 lakh, whereas the 4WD version sees a reduction of ₹1.01 lakh. The latest addition to the Thar series, the Thar Roxx, also offers savings of ₹1.33 lakh. 

The widely popular Scorpio, too, can help save between ₹1.01 lakh to ₹1.45 lakh, while the Bolero, both Classic and Neo, provides savings benefits of ₹1.27 lakh. 

Meanwhile, Tata Motors, the first auto manufacturer to announce price cuts, has decided on a reduction of up to ₹1.55 lakh. Amongst the smaller cars in its portfolio,  Tiago’s prices will go down by up to ₹75,000; with a reduction of up to ₹80,000 on Tigor; ₹1,10,000 on Altroz, up to ₹85,000 on Punch and ₹1.55 lakh on Nexon. In the above 4-metre category, there are price cuts of up to ₹65,000 on Curvv, ₹1.40 lakh on Harrier, and ₹1.45 lakh on Safari will be effective. 

Toyota Kirloskar Motor, on the other hand, offered the steepest rate cuts, with the Toyota Fortuner’s price tag coming down by up to ₹3.49 lakh. The Legender offers savings of up to ₹3.34 lakh, and the Hilux pickup truck also saves up to ₹2.52 lakh. Amongst Toyota’s popular SUVs and MPVs, the Innova Crysta and the Innova Hycross offer a discount of ₹1.80 lakh and ₹1.15 lakh, respectively. The Taisor trims its price tag by ₹1.11 lakh, while the cost of the Glanza hatchback will come down by ₹85,300. Customers interested in the premium offerings, such as Vellfire and Camry, could benefit by ₹2.52 lakh and ₹1.01 lakh, respectively.

Renault India, too, announced on September 6 new price reductions on its car portfolio of up to ₹95,395. The top-end models of the Triber, Kiger and Kwid would see rate cuts of ₹80,195, ₹96,395 and ₹54,995, respectively. 

According to a Kotak Securities report, Mahindra & Mahindra would see the maximum positive impact of the GST rate cuts, at 94.4% due to its SUV-heavy portfolio, followed by Tata Motors at 90.9%, and Maruti Suzuki at 85.1%. As SUVs previously attracted a complex GST rate of 28% and 17% to 22% compensation cess, resulting in up to 50% total taxes, the new reform eases the levies by imposing a flat 40% rate. 

For vehicles powered by petrol, LPG, or CNG with engine capacity of 1,200cc or below, and length not exceeding 4,000 mm, along with diesel vehicles up to 1,500cc and 4,000 mm, will see a reduction from 28% to 18% GST rate.