NEW DELHI: It is raining discounts in the passenger vehicle (PV) market as carmakers are going extra mile to push sales amid fall in demand after the festive heavy month of November and finish their year-end inventory at dealer showrooms, which according to some estimates are at ‘alarming level’.
Dealer association body Fada on Wednesday said PV sector shows potential for growth with year-end offers and discounts expected to stimulate sales, along with an improved vehicle supply and new product launches. However, the market faces hurdles in terms of a preference for 2024 manufactured vehicles and a notable slowdown in demand and bookings post-festivities.
“Current PV inventory, still above 60 days, underscores the need for OEMs to reduce dispatches of slow-moving vehicles, especially in entry-level category,” added Fada, India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki is offering one of the biggest discounts of this season on its recently launched SUV Jimny. The carmaker has cut prices by up to Rs 2 lakh on the SUV and has introduced the ‘Thunder Edition’ at Rs 10.74 lakh in order to push sales of the highly capable 4x4 model. As per dealer showrooms, one can avail a discount of up to Rs 2.3 lakh for the entry-level Jimny Zeta.
Popular model Fronx is being sold at a discount of up to Rs 40,000 on some variants. Maruti is giving benefits of about Rs 25,000 on Grand Vitara SUV. On its Arena showrooms, MSIL is offering offers of Rs 40,000-Rs 70,000 on small cars such as Alto K10, S Presso, Wagon and Celerio. The total benefits vary from model to model.
Shashank Srivastava, senior executive director, sales and marketing, Maruti Suzuki, had recently said while the inventory levels are between 30-35 days, it is expected to come down by December-end, due to aggressive schemes offered by manufacturers.
India’s second largest carmaker, Hyundai (HMIL), is also luring customers with discounts. As per information available, the Korean carmaker is giving discounts of up to Rs 1.5 lakh on its lineup. While the discount varies from Rs 25,000-Rs 50,000 for model such as Grand i10 Nios, Verna, Aura, and Alcazar, one can get a benefit of Rs 1.5 lakh on the Tucson SUV.
SUV major Mahindra & Mahindra is offering a huge discount of up to Rs 4.2 lakh on the XUV 400 electric vehicle SUV. The outgoing XUV300 SUV, on the other hand, has been discounted by up to Rs 1.8 lakh on the top-end variant.