Why Hyundai priced the i20 at ₹5.99 lakh. A small story about Indian taxes.
When Hyundai was finalising the new i20 Era variant, it wanted to achieve one number: ₹6 lakh.
Because in India, crossing certain price points changes everything.
Cars priced below ₹6 lakh attract about 4% road tax. The moment the price becomes ₹6 lakh or more, tax jumps to 7%.
So a car costing ₹5,99,999 pays around ₹24,000 road tax. Increase the price by just ₹2,000 and suddenly the buyer pays nearly ₹42,000.
Same car. Same engine. Different tax universe.
Hyundai understood something important: If the car crossed ₹6 lakh, buyers wouldn’t blame the tax system. They would simply say, “i20 is expensive.”
So Hyundai made a clever move.
They kept the ex-showroom price at ₹5.99 lakh by removing the touchscreen from the factory package. Instead, the screen is offered as a dealer-installed accessory after registration.
The buyer still gets the feature. The car stays in the lower tax slab. The on-road price looks attractive.
Nothing illegal. Just smart pricing inside a complicated tax structure.