What are your views on India's transition from conventional vehicles to electric vehicles and green mobility?
It's happening because it's going to happen over time. It's not gonna happen overnight.
How do you see the government’s support for this?
Government is giving a lot of support. But ultimately, people have to buy and maintain the cars. Government can't do it for them.
So there has been a debate on Hybrid vs EV? What are your views on that?
Hybrid or electric, there is space for all of them. We are a huge market. We are a huge country. Currently, just 2.4% of the sales are electric cars. So, there's scope for everybody.
Should Maruti Suzuki be focusing more on hybrid vehicles or shift to electric vehicles?
I just told you there is scope for everything. We have a market of several million cars. How can you focus on one? There are different varieties of customers. There are different markets. There's limited capacities. How can one meet our requirements?
Do you think tax on hybrid vehicles should be reduced?
I think taxes on hybrid vehicles should certainly be lower than taxes on petrol vehicles. Hybrid vehicles are 30 to 40% cleaner than petrol vehicles. Yet they're taxed at the same rate. So I think there's no reason why petrol vehicles should be taxed at the same rate as hybrid vehicles.
But it seems the government does not intends to do so.
I don't control what the government does. Government takes its own decisions.
Tesla is coming to India. How things will turn out for the Indian consumers?
Consumers always benefit from competition. Competition is meant to provide consumers with better value for money. More the competition, better it is for consumers.
And what about the electric vehicle makers in India?
Everybody is not becoming an electric vehicle maker. Nobody can afford not to be an electric vehicle maker.
