After Maruti's steep price cut, Mahindra announces benefits of up to ₹2.56 lakh
The price war has intensified among carmakers in India following the GST Council’s move to reduce tax rates on automobiles earlier this month. After Maruti Suzuki announced a price reduction of up to 24% on its cars, leading sports utility vehicle (SUV) maker Mahindra & Mahindra has revised ex-showroom prices of its internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles and extended additional benefits of up to ₹1.29 lakh.
Together with the price reduction after the GST rate cut, these benefits add up to a whopping ₹2.56 lakh, as per a notification sent by M&M.
The carmaker’s Bolero Neo model leads with maximum total benefit of ₹2.56 lakh, including a ₹1.27 lakh reduction in ex-showroom price and ₹1.29 lakh in additional benefits. The subcompact SUV XUV3XO follows closely with total savings of ₹2.46 lakh.
Mahindra’s big-size SUV models -- XUV700, Scorpio-N, and Scorpio Classic -- offer total benefits between ₹1.96 lakh and ₹2.24 lakh while the Thar and Thar ROXX variants have seen total benefits of ₹1.55 lakh and ₹1.53 lakh respectively. Following this revision, new ex-showroom prices of M&M’s ICE vehicles now begin at ₹7.28 lakh for the XUV3XO and ₹13.19 lakh for XUV700.
The price cut, over and above the GST benefit, is expected to boost competitiveness in the market, giving buyers a wider choice bracket. M&M’s pricing moves also reflect carmakers’ strategies to retain strong positioning in India’s growing SUV segment, especially as the country’s largest player, Maruti Suzuki, targets leadership in the high-volume mid-size SUV space with the launch of its Victoris model.
The additional incentives come at a time when the industry is burdened with high inventory as vehicle sales slowed sharply since mid-August following reports of an overhaul in the GST rate structure. To accelerate sales ahead of the festive season and the roll-out of GST 2.0, carmakers have already rolled out significant discounts across models.
Puneet Gupta, Director for India and ASEAN Auto Markets at S&P Global Mobility, said the ongoing discounts in the market stem from the cess component being eliminated after September 22.
“Cess, which is around 20% for large SUVs, will no longer apply under GST 2.0. However, dealers have already paid this amount and are staring at potential losses. To mitigate the impact, they are working with OEMs to offer discounts and clear inventory. This has led to the steep markdowns currently on offer,” he explained.
Gupta added that Maruti Suzuki’s decision to reduce prices will fuel sales in the struggling mini car segment, giving an opportunity to buyers who are looking to upgrade from two-wheelers to four-wheelers.
The GST Council has reduced levies on small cars and mass-market motorcycles (engine size below 350cc) from 28% to 18%. Premium cars, including sports utility vehicles (SUVs), will now attract a 40% GST as against the previous levies (GST plus cess) of about 48%.