US-India Trade Deal: Limited Impact on Car Market Due to RHD Rules

• The interim India–US trade agreement aims to reduce import duties on large-capacity vehicles, but its real-world impact on the Indian car market is expected to be minimal.
• Most US-made cars are left-hand-drive (LHD), incompatible with India's right-hand-drive (RHD) mandate, making conversion expensive and impractical for manufacturers.
• Ford Mustang is the only viable RHD petrol model above 3,000cc from US manufacturers, but it was discontinued in India due to high prices and limited demand.
• Jeep, the largest US automotive brand in India, manufactures models locally, and its RHD Wagoneer models fall outside the reduced-tariff category due to smaller engine sizes.
• General Motors, which exited India in 2017, lacks suitable non-electric RHD offerings that would qualify under the new tariff structure, despite producing RHD Cadillac Lyriq electric SUVs.