Sir
The sales tax is not going to increase.
VAT will not be imposed for at least 6 months.
The price change could be purely of revenue nature instead of a cost push increment.
In Pakistan what we pay for an Altis or Civic top grade can buy us a Civic Type R, Accord/Camry or an entry level SUV.
We have no (effective) regulators for Price (of anything) Control, Monopoly Control Authority.
Profit margins are high, no consumer associations and the value of our Rupee is surely decreasing day by day.
Civic's price has gone nearly 30% up compare to base Corolla, parts have gone considerable more expensive, as is the fuel consumption, it is over engineered and stuffed with lots of unnecessary gadgetry, the interior volume and exterior visuals are lost, thanks to the Honda's new philosophy of cab forward and luggage space everything.
And the biggest blow is that it has lost some of its magic due to size and weight, electronic blah blah and that R18 IVTEC engine that is a confused piece of hardware. These are the reasons that the sales is nearly 15% of Corolla which in 2005 nearly reached 60% of Corolla's sales.
Also, the 10th Generation Corolla is the best ever, still not good as a Civic but it has a logical dashboard, considerably cheap parts and an organic theme design which is good, and the Xli is cheaper and a lot of value for the money, considering the fact that 5 years old cars are selling for nearly 80% of the price and new Cultus costs nearly 850K.
There are no visible differences in quality control of Honda and Toyota and they will have to improve ultimately.
Regards