At a virtual interaction with media, Shashank Srivastava, Executive Director (Sales and Marketing), highlighted that even though the interim budget will not bring big announcements, the company expects policies to focus on economic growth of the country.
“We do think that the auto industry fortunes and growth is very much related to the underlying economic growth overall. So we do hope that the policies which are there generally for the economic growth to continue, that will hold this budget and continue, especially on the capital side, the public spending and infrastructure. This should be a good boost for the manufacturing sector,” Srivastava said.
“Of course the FAME scheme, PLI scheme, I suppose can have some modifications but should continue,” he added.
The centre’s PLI-Auto Scheme offers financial incentives to encourage investments in the automotive manufacturing value chain and to increase domestic production of Advanced Automotive Technology (AAT) products.Meanwhile, the FAME scheme is the government’s initiative to promote EV adoption among the masses. Earlier this month, ET reported that India could unveil an expanded third phase of the incentive scheme for electric vehicles in the upcoming interim budget, enhancing it to support mass transport and alternative fuels.Further, on the tax front, Maruti’s top official doesn’t see any large scale changes as he believes it has reached a ‘sweet spot’ where personal consumption seems to be coming back.Srivastava made the remarks at an announcement for Maruti’s top selling SUV, FRONX.
FRONX , according to the automaker, has become India’s fastest passenger vehicle to achieve 1 lakh sales milestone since launch, in just 10 months.
“It was strategically added to our portfolio to address the growing demand for another compact SUV that blends distinctive design with a captivating driving experience,” Srivastava said.
The SUV has been instrumental in doubling Maruti Suzuki’s SUV segment share to 19.7 per cent in CY2023 from 10.4 per cent in 2022, he added.
Notably, the automaker has also exported nearly 9,000 units of the FRONX, in alignment with the government’s efforts of ‘Make in India’.