'Luxury Car Sales Expected to be Low this Year Due to Taxation'

Jaguar Land Rover India, which is expecting higher sales in volume in 2018, feels that high taxation can restrict the growth prospect of the Indian luxury car market, a top official of the company says.

"We sold 3,954 units of Jaguar and Land Rover in 2017 calendar year, registering a 49 percent growth in sales (over the previous year 2016). We are looking for higher sales this year," said Rohit Suri, President and Managing Director, Jaguar Land Rover India Ltd (JLRIL).

Asked whether the luxury car major is expecting to surpass the growth it achieved in 2017, he said, "We do not know. It was very good growth. I do not think it will be 49 percent (this year)."

Although the luxury car industry was hoping a good double-digit growth in 2018 as it (the industry) grew by about 13 percent in 2017, the industry growth could end up in "a single digit or low double-digit" with an increase in customs duty and higher taxation in GST, Suri said.