Price of Hybrid Cars, Motorcycles Drops

The price of hybrid cars and four-stroke motorcycles dropped after the government reduced taxes on these environmentally friendly vehicles, the daily La Nación reported.

Environment Minister Roberto Dobles said the previous administration signed an executive decree establishing the reduction in March.

The decree, published May 19 in the legal daily La Gaceta, cut the tax on new hybrid vehicles, which run on electricity and gasoline, by 50% – reducing the Selective Consumption Tax from 30 percentage points to 15, and reducing the tax on new four-stroke motorcycles from 15 to 10 percentage points (TT, May 12).

Following the reduction, the price of the hybrid Toyota Prius – the only car of its kind for sale in the country – dropped from ¢19.3 million (approximately $38,200) to ¢15.2 million (approximately $30,100), according to La Nación.

The Prius, meaning ‘first’ in Latin, generates no air or noise pollution when running on electricity (TT, July 22, 2005).

Four-stroke (piston stroke) engine motorcycles, which are more energy efficient than two-stroke cycle engines, which cost approximately ¢650,000 (approximately $1,300), now cost between ¢30-50,000 ($60-100) less.