Vehicles above 1500-1999 cc face duty of Rs. 15,000 Those with 2000 cc and above will cost Rs. 20,000 more In a firm move to discourage fuel guzzlers on the road in the wake of rising fuel prices, the government on Friday imposed a stiff additional excise duty of about Rs. 15,000-20,000 as a specific levy on large cars, MUVs (multi-utility vehicles) and SUVs (sports utility vehicles). For these vehicles above 1500-1999 cc engine capacity, a specific duty of Rs. 15,000 per vehicle has been imposed while those with an engine capacity of 2000 cc and above would henceforth attract a specific duty of Rs. 20,000. Accordingly, the prices of Maruti SX4, Hyundai Verna, Honda Accord and Renault-Logan are slated to go up by Rs. 15,000 each. Larger vehicles such as Honda Civic, Tata Safari, Tata Sumo, Mahindra Scorpio and Bolero, Toyota Innova and luxury cars such as BMW, Mercedes and Skoda are set to cost Rs. 20,000 more. As per the new duty structure, the prices of small cars such as Maruti 800, Alto, WagonR, Hyundai Santro, i10 and Tata Indica remain unchanged. An official statement announcing the duty changes noted that the specific excise duty, in addition to the existing ad valorem duty of 24 per cent, would come into force with immediate effect. "These [vehicles] would now be chargeable to a specific rate of duty in addition to the existing ad valorem rate of 24 per cent,' it said, while noting that the duty structure for cars with engine capacity up to 1500 cc would remain unchanged.