Original Title: Volkswagen Joins Tesla’s Call for India to Reduce Import Tariffs on Electric Vehicles Source: Sina Finance
Volkswagen, the world’s second-largest automaker, has called on India to reduce import tariffs on electric vehicles to help drive demand for clean energy vehicles, which echoes Tesla’s recent claims.The Indian head of the German automaker said in an interview with Reuters that reducing the tariff on electric vehicles from the current level of 100% to 25% will not pose a “huge threat” to domestic companies, but will help. Promote investment.
“The market for electric vehicles must be large enough for investment to come in, so we should not set up barriers,” said Gurpratap Boparai, general manager of Skoda Volkswagen India.
Boparai said that Volkswagen is considering launching Volkswagen and Skoda brand electric vehicles in the Indian market, but it needs to see the decline in import tariffs, stable tax policies and long-term incentives before making a final decision. The development of charging infrastructure will also influence its decision.
“I’m not saying that local manufacturing should not be encouraged… but the high tariffs of 60% and 100% at this time are prohibitive,” Boparai said, adding that to make electric cars locally, there needs to be more demand first.
Volkswagen’s goal is to surpass Tesla by 2025 and become the world‘s largest electric car manufacturer. The company is investing billions of dollars to transition to electric vehicles and is expected to account for half of the company’s global car sales by 2030.
Although India, the world‘s fifth-largest car market, is on Volkswagen’s electric car map, Boparai predicts that India’s electric car launch process will lag behind because of higher prices and lack of local charging infrastructure.
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