File picture: The price of the MINI Cooper could come down by about ₹8 lakh  | Photo Credit: firoz

Luxury automakers are beginning to pre-empt the proposed India-UK free trade agreement by slashing prices on British-built imported cars, creating expected customer savings ranging from about ₹8 lakh on the MINI Cooper S to ₹75 lakh on the Range Rover SV, and as much as ₹3.32 crore on the McLaren 750S Spider as companies move early to capture demand ahead of a formal treaty implementation.

For brands such as Bentley, Aston Martin and Rolls-Royce, the agreement could potentially trigger price reductions ranging from ₹1 crore to more than ₹3 crore depending on engine size and model specifications.

But the proposed pact is also creating an unusual inversion in India’s premium automobile market: while some of the country’s most expensive petrol-powered supercars and luxury SUVs are suddenly becoming dramatically cheaper, premium electric vehicles and hybrids remain excluded from the benefits and will continue attracting steep import duties for years.

Early movers

McLaren Automotive and Jaguar Land Rover have already started revising prices downward in anticipation of lower import duties under the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which proposes reducing customs duties on qualifying British-built completely built units (CBUs) from 110% to 30% initially, before gradually tapering further under a quota-based system.

The biggest rebate so far has come on the McLaren 750S Spider, whose ex-showroom price is expected to fall by ₹3.32 crore to ₹5.46 crore from ₹8.78 crore earlier. The McLaren 750S Coupe could become cheaper by ₹3 crore to ₹4.94 crore, while the McLaren GTS is expected to see a ₹2.32 crore reduction to ₹3.83 crore.

Jaguar Land Rover has also moved quickly to pass on anticipated tariff benefits, reducing the price of the Range Rover SV by ₹75 lakh and the Range Rover Sport SV by ₹40 lakh.

The qualifying club

The duty relief applies specifically to imported British petrol cars with engines above 3,000cc, putting the McLaren 750S Coupe, 750S Spider and GTS directly within the qualifying bracket.

The agreement is heavily skewed toward large-displacement internal combustion engine vehicles. Petrol cars above 3,000cc and diesel models above 2,500cc receive the steepest and fastest duty reductions, effectively making ultra-luxury SUVs and supercars the biggest immediate beneficiaries of the pact.

However, the Artura hybrid, despite being a British-built McLaren, does not qualify because hybrids and alternative-fuel vehicles are excluded from the initial duty reduction structure.

The EV exclusion

The biggest surprise in the agreement may be what it excludes. Alternative-fuel vehicles, including EVs, hybrids and hydrogen-powered models — are locked out of duty reductions for the first five years after implementation.

That means premium British EVs such as the Lotus Eletre or upcoming electric Range Rovers will continue attracting India’s existing high import duty structure through much of the decade. Only from the sixth year onward will the agreement permit a limited quota of EV imports at lower duties, which will gradually taper over a 15-year period.

The structure effectively prioritises legacy ICE luxury vehicles over electric imports at a time when India is simultaneously trying to accelerate EV adoption.

MINI’s middle path

The MINI Cooper S has emerged as another closely watched beneficiary because it sits in the mid-premium category rather than the ultra-luxury segment. Since the petrol-powered Cooper S is imported from MINI’s Oxford plant in the UK, it qualifies for tariff benefits and could see price reductions of ₹8 lakh to ₹12 lakh depending on the variant.

BMW-owned MINI India has already introduced a “Price Protection Assurance” programme under which buyers purchasing the car now are promised a retrospective refund if customs rates officially fall within 180 days.

Industry executives say the treaty’s strict annual import quotas could create a new “quota economy” in luxury cars, where early buyers secure lower-tax imports, while later customers face long waiting periods once allocations are exhausted.

Published on June 11, 2026