Source : PTI | European auto major Skoda Auto Volkswagen India on Monday said while it does not support the new reciprocal tariff imposed by the Trump Administration, which have now been paused for 90 days on non-retaliating countries, the move may open up opportunities for the industries in the long term. Earlier, the group, which is battling a ₹11,000-crore tax show cause notice for alleged customs duty fraud related to the import of cars as completely knocked down units, rolled out the all-new Volkswagen Tiguan R Line at an introductory price of ₹49 lakh.
“Of course, we do not support the (reciprocal) tariffs but at the same time there are a lot of discussions about opening up the economy even in India through bilateral trade or free trade agreements,” Piyush Arora, Managing Director at Skoda Auto Volkswagen India told PTI here at the launch event.
Emphasising that the group always believes in “free trade” and transfer of technology between countries for customers and their benefits, Arora said there is a lot of uncertainty right now hovering around the recent announcements on the tariff front which the US administration has imposed.
He, however, added that these developments (tariff discussion) might expedite the free trade agreements being discussed between India and the EU for a long time.
“I do believe that there are opportunities for India. We have always been a proponent of having lower tariffs between Europe whether it is EU trade or bilateral FTA which has been discussed for a very long time but at the same time might give an opportunity.
“There might be short-term hiccups because of increased tariff for our component industry from India which is exporting a good amount of parts to the US and the initial tariffs can hinder that but in the long run maybe it will open up opportunities,” Arora said.
At the same time, it can’t be said at this stage how would this entire tariff issue settle down and in which direction it is heading for as the goal posts are moving, he said, adding, “India getting affected in a different way vis-a-vis some other competing economies so we will have to see how it pans out.”
Built on the MQB EVO platform, the all-new third-generation flagship SUV Tiguan R-Line boasts of a new chassis generation and comes with a 2.0-litre TSI EVO engine . It comes equipped with a host of new features such as air-care climatronic (3-zone air-conditioning), park assist plus with park distance control and Inductive charging for 2 smartphones.
“With the launch of the all-new Tiguan R-Line today, we are entering an exciting phase for Volkswagen in India, a phase that embodies the future of premium mobility from Volkswagen,” said Ashish Gupta, Brand Director at Volkswagen India.
Along with other safety features, the latest flagship SUV is also packed with advanced technology with 21 Level 2 ADAS (Advanced Driving Assistance System) besides 9-airbags, tire pressure monitoring system, front and rear disc brakes, among others.
Additionally, the all-new Tiguan R-Line has received a 5-Star EURO NCAP safety rating, making it one of the safest SUVs on Indian roads, the company said, adding that the deliveries of the new offering will commence from April 23 onwards, across the Volkswagen dealership network in the country.
On the alleged tax notice to the SAVWIPL, he reiterated the company’s earlier position and said that it has been “abiding” by the regulations not only in India but globally as well.
“I think from the point of view of the classification dispute which we have presently with the Indian government we have been doing this business for the last two decades in a similar way and we will continue to do that and we will continue to evaluate the remedies which are available,” he said.
The German company, led in the country by Skoda Auto Volkswagen India, has been accused of deliberately misleading Customs authorities through its mode of import of parts as individual units rather than as a component of a ‘completely knocked down’ unit, which attracts higher import duty.
The CKD units attract a 30-35 per cent duty, but Volkswagen declared its imports as separate components in different shipments and paid only 5-15 per cent in duties, as per Customs department.
According to authorities, imports of various unassembled parts of cars should have been declared as CKD units.
The company has challenged the tax notice in court.
Source: worldautoforum.com
