Five Indian market cars that are stupidly expensive in our neighbouring countries

List of cars that are stupidly expensive

Toyota Fortuner

 The Toyota Fortuner is a favourite amongst politicians, police personnel, and high-ranking individuals in India. It commands so much respect that if you see a Fortuner, particularly a white one with dark tints, in your rearview mirror, you move over and let them pass. Contrary to popular belief, it is not only used by political types but also by families and passionate off-roaders. The Fortuner costs Rs 42 lakh for the 2.8-litre 4x4 AT in India, while the privilege of the same comes at a whopping NPR 2.32 crore (Rs 1.45 crore) in Nepal. Indian variants include the Legender, GR-S, and the 2.7-litre petrol 4x2 AT and MT.

Mahindra XUV700 

Despite having a monocoque chassis, the Mahindra XUV700 is every bit a proper SUV with optional AWD. Its combination of space, features, and even ADAS make it an incredible value for money proposition in its segment. Buyers seem to agree because some variants command a waiting period of up to 12 months. The Indian-spec XUV700 is priced at Rs 24.7 lakhs for the AX7L Petrol AT, while in Nepal, the XUV700 AX7L costs NPR 1.10 crore (Rs 68.8 lakh), with only the petrol variants available - AX3, AX5, and AX7. The Indian-spec XUV700 is offered with a 2.2-litre diesel engine as well, spread across most of the trims.

Honda Elevate ZX CVT

The Elevate is Honda’s first entrant in the hotly contested compact suv segment and the timing couldn’t have been better. The Elevate, unlike its rivals, offers only a 1.5-litre, naturally-aspirated powertrain, but that doesn’t stop it from racking up tons of bookings. The Indian-spec Elevate costs Rs 16 lakh for the top trim with 10 colour options, including three dual-tone schemes, while the Nepal-spec costs Rs 79 lakh (Rs 49 lakh) for the same with six shades on offer. To give you a better perspective, the Tata Nexon is priced at NPR 57 lakhs (Rs 35.6 lakh) in Nepal, making the Elevate feel pricey.

BMW iX

The BMW iX wraps you in luxury with a quilted leather interior, crystal-finished gear selector and iDrive controller, seat-integrated speakers, LED strips all around and a ton of tech. The Pakistan-spec BMW iX has 2 variants - xDrive40 with 322bhp and 630Nm, the xDrive50 with a staggering 523 bhp and 630 km range, while India offers only the former. Pakistan also gets eight colour options with 20-inch tyres, while India gets only four shade options but a tyre size of 21-inch. The BMW iX xDrive40 comes at a bargain price of Rs 1.21 crore in India, as Pakistan pays PKR 7.6 crore (Rs 2.15 crore) for the same.

MG ZS EV

The MG ZS EV can take you swiftly around town with its 174bhp electric motor and a 50.3kWh battery with a range of 460km. The Pakistan spec MG ZS EV is available in two versions – a long range variant that has a 72.6kWh battery with a range of 505km and an electric motor producing 154bhp. Furthermore, there's also a more affordable 51.1kWh variant with a range of 360km and 174bhp. The EV is strategically priced in India at Rs 26 lakh for the top trim with five variants to choose from, while our neighbours pay PKR 1.5 crore (Rs 44 lakh) for the long range variant and PKR 1.3 crore (Rs 38 lakh) for the more aggressive essence variant.