Mercedes agrees to pay 1% cess to resume diesel car sales

Mercedes-Benz India has appealed to the Supreme Court to lift the ban on sales of diesel cars having engines bigger than 2,000 cc in Delhi-NCR. The company has even shown its willingness to pay 1% of the car's value as environment cess.

This comes a month after the Supreme Court announced that it would consider lifting the diesel car ban in Delhi-NCR, provided the automakers agree to pay a certain amount of environment cess. Mercedes-Benz is the first manufacturer to officially agree to pay the said cess.

Mercedes-Benz has been among the worst hit manufacturers due to the Supreme Court's order banning the sales of diesel cars in the National capital. The Delhi-NCR market accounts for around 28% of the annual sales of the company. Hence, the automaker is trying every trick in the book to be able to sell its cars in the region. Mercedes is even planning to launch petrol variants of all models in its line-up to bypass the Delhi-NCR ban.

The Supreme Court bench has scheduled the hearing of the company's plea on August 12, 2016.

Source: Autocar India