It’s discount time for auto and electronic companies

Slowdown blues aren’t dissuading auto and electronics companies from offering discounts and benefits this festive season.

Passenger car and two-wheeler makers are rolling out discounts and offers to revive customer demand, even as the automobile industry continues to grapple with one of the worst slowdowns ever. Phone makers and electronic companies are also following suit.

Maruti Suzuki, the country’s largest carmaker, had announced benefits of up to ₹1 lakh on its cars, valid till the end of this month. On Wednesday, the company also announced that it is reducing the price of select models by ₹5,000 (on ex-showroom price), on the back of the corporate tax reduction announced by the government.

The company said that it is optimistic that the price reduction will bring down the cost of acquisition, especially for entry-level customers. “This announcement around the festive season will help boost customer sentiment, and revive the market to create demand,” the company said in a release.

According to The Hindu , Tata Motors is offering benefits of up to ₹1.5 lakh. Hyundai Motor India’s benefits go up to ₹95,000, depending on the model.

The same report also states that Bajaj Auto has taken to advertising benefits of up to ₹7,200 per motorcycle. Honda Motorcycles is also planning to announce its scheme soon, the report added.

Luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz had announced in August a mobility solutions initiative ‘Wishbox’, which the company said is aimed at encouraging and financially empowering customers to pursue the purchase of their cars. It entails solutions like low or zero down payment.

Festive season sale

As for players in the electronics space, Puresight Systems Pvt Ltd, the Indian arm of the global consumer robot company, iRobot, on Wednesday, announced offers which include discounts on multiple products across categories.

Forrester, a market research company, released today new data estimating the online retail spend in India during the upcoming festive month. “Online retailers in India are expected to generate about $4.8 billion in sales from September 25 to October 29, mitigating the impact of the general economic slowdown,” it said. About 80 per cent of these sales will occur between September 29 and October 4, the period in which Flipkart and Amazon will hold their sale events, it added.

Realme, a smartphone brand in India, will be offering discounts worth ₹300 crores during the upcoming festive season sale on Flipkart.com and realme.com, the company announced a few days ago.

Google also recently announced all-new prices for its Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL on Flipkart for the e-commerce platform’s Big Billion Day Sale . From 30th September to 4th October, 2019 the Google Pixel 3a and 3a XL will be available at a discounted prices of ₹29,999 and ₹34,999 respectively.

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