NEW DELHI: India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) on Thursday announced the launch of its vehicle lease subscription services for individual customers – Maruti Suzuki Subscribe as the company and the COVID-19 hit industry, in general, continue to find newer ways to attract buyers and recover from the current slowdown.
The auto major has tied up with ORIX Auto Infrastructure Services Limited, a subsidiary of ORIX Corporation, Japan, to launch Maruti Suzuki Subscribe for the Indian market.
Maruti Suzuki will offer cars for subscription as a pilot project in Gurugram and Bengaluru. The subscription will be initially available on Swift, Dzire, Vitara Brezza and Ertiga from Maruti Suzuki ARENA Channel and Baleno, Ciaz and XL6 from NEXA Channel, Maruti said.
With this, Maruti will take on rival carmakers Hyundai Motor India and Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), who already offer their vehicles on lease.
Hyundai had collaborated with ALD Automotive India, a global automotive leasing and fleet management company, to provide an alternative to owning a car. Mahindra had rolled out a subscription-based passenger car ownership model in partnership with Revv, a startup that operates in the car-sharing space.
MG Motor India also offers its subscription services through a strategic tie-up with Myles. In May this year, Volkswagen had also launched its car-leasing schemes allowing customers to lease all BS6-compliant cars in its portfolio with a minimum lock-in period ranging from 2-4 years.
Vehicle leasing services are popular in markets such as the US and Europe. However, in India, its penetration is said to be less than 1 per cent of the total volume. Experts feel the model has immense possibility of success in the Indian market.