Hybrid Cars

Falling EV sales may have dented their business, but companies such as Sona Comstar, Bosch Ltd, and Tenneco Clean Air are highly optimistic about the rise of hybrid vehicles, saying they represent the best of both worlds.

As GST cuts make petrol and diesel cars cheaper, buyers are redoing their math. EVs still save on running costs, but the payoff depends on how much you actually drive.

This means that prices of popular hybrid cars including Honda City, Toyota Innova Hycross and Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara could go up by as much as 10% in Uttar Pradesh, one of the largest markets for hybrid cars after Maharashtra and Karnataka.

New draft corporate average fuel efficiency, or CAFE, norms propose a revised method for calculating fuel consumption and introduce carve-outs for smaller cars.

GST cuts on small cars and two-wheelers slash prices of petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles, widening the gap with EVs and raising questions over India’s clean mobility transition.

Automakers are at loggerheads: Tata and Mahindra backing EVs on one side, and Maruti and Toyota pitching hybrids on the other. Each side has its own claims on pollution and clean mobility. Now, Niti Aayog wants to settle the debate

Centre may be technology-agnostic when it comes to hybrids and EVs, but states are increasingly preferring EVs above everything else. The divergence has also pitted Tata Motors, Mahindra and MG Motors against Maruti and Toyota in the state capitals.

Currently, hybrids face GST and compensation cess of 43% while electric vehicles are taxed at only 5%, raising concerns over how clean mobility can be incentivized.

The PMO takes a stand after both electric and hybrid vehicle makers go on a lobbying overdrive for government incentives.