There is good news for all those who had been aspiring to own premium SUV models but were wary of their hefty price tag. Now the premium SUV makers viz. Honda, Volkswagen, BMW, Audi, Tata Land Rover are planning to assemble their SUV models in India to make them priced at less than Rs. 30 lakh. Currently, the high end SUV models like BMW X1, Audi Q3, and Q5 are priced above Rs. 30 lakh due to 110 percent import duty on import of completely built units.
BMW will start assembling X1 at its Chennai plant from this December. The model will be priced at Rs. 26 lakh and above depending upon the variant. Similarly, Audi will introduce Audi Q3 next year which will be the younger sibling of Audi Q5 and will compete with BMW X1 in the high end SUV segment.
Toyota had been the first one to adopt the model of assembling high end SUV model Fortuner in India. It currently enjoys two-third of the market share in the country. It had stopped its bookings after its launch. It has reopened the bookings from July 2010 after clearing the backlog.
Bringing high end models in India as CKD units and assembling them in the country will not only circumvent the high import duty but will also make the premium SUV segment extremely competitive. Honda CRV, Toyota Fortuner and upcoming Hyundai Santa Fe are few of the models that will have to review their position after this change.
