Policymakers must stop treating cars like sin goods: Maruti's R C Bhargava

R C Bhargava says the government's attitude of increasing the ownership cost of cars is the main reason why sales have been going down

R C Bhargava has spent almost 40 years in the Indian auto industry. Even for him, the year 2019 has been the worst for the sector. He says the government’s attitude of increasing the ownership cost of cars is the main reason why sales have been going down. In an interview with Arindam Majumder, he cautions that increasing taxes on cars — to mitigate any revenue shortfall — will affect the economy and job creation. Excerpts:

For the auto industry, was the year 2019 the worst you have seen?

In terms of sales drop, 2019 was probably the worst. The