Offers rain on car buyers before the big price hike

Maruti Suzuki India, has line up massive benefits of up to Rs 1.1 lakh on its products, especially the ones sold through the Nexa dealerships.
For representational purposes (Photo | EPS)
For representational purposes (Photo | EPS)

To create demand in a muted market, that too in the last month, automakers and dealer showrooms are offering big discounts on passenger vehicles. For car buyers, this might even be the last month they are spoilt with benefits as most OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) are going for a price hike from January to offset the rising input cost.

According to a senior executive with a leading OEM, most of the carmakers will desist from offering huge discounts in February and March, the months preceding the BS-VI rollout, which is slated on April 1, 2020.

“The industry has been giving additional discounts for the past several months to spur demand. This, coupled with control in manufacturing, has reduced the BS-IV inventory. As all the carmakers have started introducing BS-VI variants, it is highly unlikely that anyone would give big discounts on the same,” he said.

At present, the country’s largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India, has line up massive benefits of up to Rs 1.1 lakh on its products, especially the ones sold through the Nexa dealerships.

According to a Delhi-based Nexa dealer, maximum benefit is being given on the diesel variant of Ciaz and S-Cross models. Ciaz’s benefit includes consumer discount of Rs 40,000, exchange offer of Rs 40,000 and corporate offer of Rs 10,000. The buyer will also get a five-year warranty without paying any extra amount. Offers on other models such as Ignis and Baleno ranges from Rs 50,000-Rs 75,000.

Similarly, Hyundai Motor is offering benefits worth Rs 95,000 on its most selling SUV Creta, while a massive Rs 2 lakh discount is being offered for its premium SUVs. Hyundai is also offering discounts in excess of Rs 50,000 on its entry-level car Santro, Rs 20,000 on Grand i10 NIOS and Rs 95,000 on Xcent.
Other carmakers such as Tata Motors, Honda Cars, Nissan, Renault and M&M also have massive offers to beat the slowdown and reduce the inventory level of their BS-IV models.

The offers might improve sales in December. “December is the month of model change and of attractive offers. This, coupled with continued government focus on improving the overall economic situation, we are hopeful of a third month of positive retail growth,” said Ashish Harsharaj Kale, president of  automobile dealers’ body FADA.

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