this story originally appeared in on dec 8 2014new delhi december is typically a lean month for carmakers because of weak customer demand but this year uncertainty over continuation of excise duty beyond the yearend is forcing them to maximise production if the government doesnt extend the deadline further for the 46 excise duty reduction announced in february car prices could go up in the new year by as much as rs 50000 on popular sedans like the honda city and even more on some other models carmaker are anticipating a spurt in demand in the next few days from buyers who could advance their purchase decision in the absence of clarity on the duty stimulus going beyond december as there is no clarity with regard to the excise rate being altered or extended we have decided to equip our dealers with stocks in order to pass the benefit of lower excise to customers said rakesh srivastava senior vicepresident for marketing and sales at hyundai motor indiaread also february 18 cars to get cheaper as chidambaram slashes duty the previous congressled government announced the duty cut during its interim budget to boost demand in a sector where sales had shrunk for two consecutive years while that relief was until the end of june the current bjpled government extended the cut to enddecember but before that announcement came sales had jumped in june as people expected the tax relief to end in june the industry posted this fiscal years highest jump in sales at 15 in june and auto makers are expecting a similar experience in december since the government is yet to make it clear whether it would continue with the relief or scrap it senior executives of car companies say they have no option but to maximise production in december to create a buffer and meet any possible spurt in demand as was the case in june excise tax is paid on the products dispatched from factories and that means the cars sent to dealerships before the yearend will escape from higher tax even if the government doesnt extend the deadline honda cars india the fastestgrowing carmaker in the country selling 45 more cars so far in this fiscal year too has put the pedal to the metal on high demand for its newly launched models we have a long waiting period on certain models and have increased production to meet customer demand the market has been good for us with strong customer inquiries said senior vicepresident for sales and marketing jnaneshwar sen honda has recently added new shifts to its production plant at tapukara in rajasthan to increase output of highdemand cars like the city and amaze sedans several manufacturers are building up stocks to maintain a healthy inventory according to an auto analyst the industry is still under pressure as the expected economic recovery has been delayed the market has just started rebounding and we are observing uplift in overall sentiment as seen in