GOVERNMENT'S initiative to reduce duty on certain types of vehicles is paying off, Attorney-General and Trade Minister, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said.
Speaking at the launch of the Range Rover Evoque on Thursday night, Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said the initiative had various objectives, which included the creation of new jobs and the importation of quality and fuel efficient vehicles into the country.
He added that the country had already seen a number of new buses this year.
Eurocars chief executive Bobby Niranjan said the new Evoque Land Rover was the smallest, lightest, most fuel efficient Range Rover ever produced.
"This new vehicle is very much in libe with the government's initiative to reduce imports of fuel, which we know is the single largest import item using our foreign reserves," Mr Niranjan said.
"Economic performance of a country and car sales have always been co-related. With the recent reduction in import duty for cars below 2500cc, we have seen improvement in new car sales and in fuel import reductions.
"Eurocars is taking a responsible approach in introducing cars that are fuel efficient where engine technology lowers periodic maintenance and is environmentally friendly with reduced carbon dioxide emissions."
Since, its debut the Range Rover Evoque has been crowned World Design Car of the Year 2012.
The announcement was made at the 2012 New York International Auto Show and sees Evoque's awards tally reach more than 100 global accolades.