Maruti discounts car prices to boost December sales
18 Dec 2007
New Delhi: Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) has rolled out a special savings scheme, branded the 'Happy Customer Offer', which will see it sell cars at discounted prices, in the range from Rs18,500 to Rs57,500 across various models.
The discount, coming just ahead of the company's widely expected price hike, will allow it to clear inventory ahead of the new stock hitting its dealerships. Prices of its various car models are believed to be scheduled for a hike of up to Rs2,000, with the company already having corresponded with its dealers about the impending hike.
Calendar year-end discounts have become almost an annualised industry feature, as car companies scramble to clear their inventories of the current year models. Come January, the model changes, and with customers demanding current year models, it sometimes becomes difficult for dealers to sell old stock, unless it is discounted substantially. The year end push also helps car companies meet their sales numbers using the discounted pricing for some leverage.
Under the 'Happy Customer Offer', Maruti Suzuki plans to offer a discount of Rs18,500 on Omni, and Rs26,000 on its bread winner hatchback Maruti 800. According to reports, the largest discount of Rs57,500 is on the mid-size sedan Esteem. The Esteem, it would be recalled, was earlier reported to be scheduled for phasing out sometime soon, due to be replaced by a new version of Suzuki's Swift that will sport a trunk or boot.
The hatch back Alto would be discounted by Rs24,500, while the Wagon-R petrol and Duo (LPG) would be cheaper by Rs45,000 and Rs24,500 respectively. The Zen Estilo has been discounted by Rs48,000.
These discounts vary across models, and could also include finance payouts and/or exchange bonuses apart from the customer offer.
What is noteworthy, is that Maruti Suzuki has not extended the Happy Customer Offer to best seling models of its premium hatchback Swift (diesel and petrol), and the premium sedan SX4, with demand stripping supply for both cars.