The coming of GST and the huge taxation relief it gave to SUVs is benefiting manufacturers of utility vehicles in a big way. Toyota Kirloskar Motor, which had seen subdued sales in June, has bounced back with sales of 17,750 units in the domestic market in July 2017 – its best-ever performance for the seventh month of the year – registering over 43 percent year-on-year growth (July 2016: 12,404).

TKM’s sales, not surprisingly, have been driven by the massive consumer demand for the Innova Crysta MPV and new Fortuner SUV, both having clocked their highest ever unit sales since launch in May 2016 and November 2016 respectively.

Commenting on the monthly sales, N Raja, director and senior VP (Sales & Marketing), Toyota Kirloskar Motor, said, “We are thankful to the government for the biggest indirect tax reform of the nation, which has helped us maintain the double-digit growth this month. In June, putting the dealers’ need ahead we had consciously taken the decision to lower the volumes of vehicles sold to them as we wanted to ensure that there is minimum burden on our dealer partners of any differential tax after GST. However, we are delighted that we have been able to achieve the milestone of best-ever July sales.”

“The Innova Crysta has seen impressive growth in July, with over 9,300 units sold. We are delighted that this month our MPV leader has achieved the milestone of highest-ever sales globally. The new Fortuner has also been a major contributor to overall growth with over 3,400 vehicles sold, which is the highest ever in India since the vehicle’s launch.

“Apart from the SUV segment, the  Corolla, Platinum Etios and Etios Liva have also witnessed a positive growth momentum in the month of July.

“However, the customer demand for our strong hybrid product Camry Hybrid has seen a significant fall owing to the price hike as per applicable tax under the GST framework. We hope the government would reinstate the preferential (lower) tax rate in favour of clean and green technologies such as strong hybrids similar to the pre- GST era. This will greatly help improve the economic viability and hence aid the consumer in choosing this advanced technology over petrol/diesel vehicles,” concluded Raja.