- Home
- News On Sunday
- Society
- Going Hybrid
Going Hybrid
- By Raghav Ramful
- Published 20th June, 2008
- Society
- Unrated
The recent arrival of Porsche on our landscape has surely added a dash of variety and colour to our existing float of vehicles on Mauritian roads. However, as long as the question of petrol consumption of these high segment cars does not arise, everything seems alright. The imminent arrival of another beast, the all-American icon, the Hummer which is well-known for its gargantuan appetite for fuel and that has been a subject for debate for environmentalists abroad, will surely turn heads in Mauritius.
Amidst all these changes in the local motor industry catering for high-end customers, another stir, close to an undercover preparation, has been ongoing in most of the big car importers’ garages very recently. Following the worldwide trend to cut down on fuel consumption and dependence on petrol, local car companies are seriously looking at cars that consume the minimum petrol and run on alternative power.
Hybrid car
Enter the Hybrid car, now pumped up to a star icon in Europe and America. People are already moving away from vehicles that burn holes in their pockets and are opting for more economical and environment-friendly vehicles.
These countries have already
felt the need to cut down on their fuel consumption.
Mauritius does not want to lose ground to these countries and it has already got a whiz of the new emerging popular culture as far as cars are concerned. The Minister of Finance, Dr Rama Sithanen has even stated it clearly in his last budget speech that he is reducing by half the taxes on hybrid vehicles. “Excise duties, road tax and registration fees will all be halved for such vehicles. Starting on 1st July 2008, I am also eliminating customs duty on all tyres with energy saving and emission reducing certification.”
The minister could not have made himself clearer on his stand on the concept of a sustainable Mauritius through his statement. Meanwhile, major car importers in Mauritius are already cruising along higher gear to put to fruition the ministers’ initiative.
Dominic Dupont, Director of Iframac and President of the Motor Vehicle Dealers Association pointed out that many local car importers have already sent some of their employees and engineers to Japan, Korea and France to get acquainted with technology regarding hybrid cars. “They will also have to decide on which equipment to be imported into the island for the maintenance of such vehicles,” he said at a car show organised recently by Toyota (Mauritius).
Amidst all these changes in the local motor industry catering for high-end customers, another stir, close to an undercover preparation, has been ongoing in most of the big car importers’ garages very recently. Following the worldwide trend to cut down on fuel consumption and dependence on petrol, local car companies are seriously looking at cars that consume the minimum petrol and run on alternative power.
Hybrid car
Enter the Hybrid car, now pumped up to a star icon in Europe and America. People are already moving away from vehicles that burn holes in their pockets and are opting for more economical and environment-friendly vehicles.
These countries have already
Mauritius does not want to lose ground to these countries and it has already got a whiz of the new emerging popular culture as far as cars are concerned. The Minister of Finance, Dr Rama Sithanen has even stated it clearly in his last budget speech that he is reducing by half the taxes on hybrid vehicles. “Excise duties, road tax and registration fees will all be halved for such vehicles. Starting on 1st July 2008, I am also eliminating customs duty on all tyres with energy saving and emission reducing certification.”
The minister could not have made himself clearer on his stand on the concept of a sustainable Mauritius through his statement. Meanwhile, major car importers in Mauritius are already cruising along higher gear to put to fruition the ministers’ initiative.
Dominic Dupont, Director of Iframac and President of the Motor Vehicle Dealers Association pointed out that many local car importers have already sent some of their employees and engineers to Japan, Korea and France to get acquainted with technology regarding hybrid cars. “They will also have to decide on which equipment to be imported into the island for the maintenance of such vehicles,” he said at a car show organised recently by Toyota (Mauritius).
