The Hindu Business Line : It’s raining discounts in ‘automart’

Hyderabad, Dec. 20 Most of the automotive companies in the country are offering a host of freebies and cash discounts that go up to nearly Rs 1 lakh in some high-end models during the year-end, even as some have announced their decision to hike prices.

Discounts during December every year are something quite unique to India. With the change in year of purchase, the car cost gets recalibrated downwards making buyers cautious. Though this is a representative story from dealers in Hyderabad, this trend mirrors a similar sentiment of discounts and freebies in other parts of the country, according to Mr Vinay Saboo of RKS Motors, a dealer of Maruti Suzuki here.

Mr Saboo said, “model value is assessed in India based on the year of manufacture. Nothing actually changes between December and January and yet we have evolved the valuation basing on the year of manufacture.”

The Executive Director of Talwar Hyundai, Mr Saral Talwar, said, “In fact, most of the car manufacturers have announced their intention to hike prices in January. The reality is that while the automotive companies continue their production, when sales go down, the inventory of cars gets piled up as buyers keep a low profile during December.”

“When we advertise, typically, buyers’ reaction is not instantaneous. They take a few days to decide and then plunge for the offer. We expect to keep this up to December 25. But depending on the response, this could be extended,” Mr Talwar explained.

For instance, Hyundai is offering discount of about Rs 25,000-35,000 on its popular Santro. To this there is complimentary offer of an exchange bonus and corporate discounts, which could add up another Rs 50,000.

Maruti is offering discounts ranging from Rs 8,000-10,000 for its Omni and this goes up to Rs 25,000 for Zen Estilo.To these are added exchange bonus and other freebies including accessories. Mr Talwar said that as each year passes by, a car gets re-rated by about Rs 12,000- Rs 20,000. So when someone buys now, he gets a good discount upfront as he pays much lesser than what he would otherwise do.

However, both Maruti and Hyundai are not offering any discounts on Swift, its variants, and mid-sized sedans SX4 and Verna.

Tata Motors too is offering discounts which add up to about Rs 50,000 for its cars, depending upon the model. While this is the case with other car makers such as General Motors, some of the banks have brought down interest rates to woo more buyers. These discounts are offered by both manufacturers and dealers jointly.

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