Toyota Asks for Lower Taxes on Hybrid Cars in India

A big car company called Toyota from Japan is asking the Indian government to reduce taxes on hybrid cars by 21%. This means they want the tax to be 21% less than what it is now. Toyota thinks hybrid cars should get special benefits because they are much better for the environment than cars that run on gasoline.

Right now, the tax on hybrid cars is the same as the tax on gasoline cars, both at 43%. To give you an idea, electric cars (EVs) in India have a tax of only 5%. Even though the Indian government is promoting electric cars, Toyota wants to make more hybrid cars to meet the demand of people.

In a letter to the government, Toyota, which is the biggest car company in the world, is asking for a lower tax of 11% for hybrid cars and 14% for another kind of hybrid called flex-hybrid, compared to cars that use petrol. This would make the tax for hybrids 37% and for flex hybrids 34%. Toyota also wants the government to give incentives, which are special benefits, to people who buy hybrid cars, similar to what electric car buyers get.

Some people who care about the climate and investors are not happy with Toyota promoting hybrid cars. But Toyota says that in places where there aren’t many places to charge electric cars, hybrids make more sense. Toyota believes the best way to help the environment is to use both electric and hybrid cars together.

This is not the first time Toyota has asked a government to support their hybrid technology. They’ve done it in Japan, where they come from, and in the European Union, where they even said they might stop making hybrid cars if they were banned in favor of electric cars.