Bonanza for car buyers as cos offer heavy discounts

NEW DELHI: The auto industry may soon be slumping into a lower gear, but it might spell good news for consumers in terms of lower prices and greater discounts from car makers. At a time when fuel prices have hit an all-time high and soaring, Indian auto dealers are a worried lot. They are caught in the dilemma of pushing their sales while at the same time bringing in features such as fuel efficiency, which could lure the consumers.
While all this has worried those in the business, it might get customers a deal of their lifetime. Companies, in their attempt to make up for the slowdown in the market, are offering discounts in the range of 10-15%. So those of you who were planning to wait till the festival season to go in for the big purchase, think again. Now is the time for you to get your dream car.
What’s more, auto companies are competing with each other to ensure impressive sales. Topping the list of discounts and freebies is Hyundai Sonata Embera that attracts a discount of Rs 1.24 lakh, followed by Toyota Corolla that come with a discount of Rs 85,000. Discount offers on Maruti Suzuki’s Zen Estilo sums up to about Rs 57,000 while Wagon R fetches a discount of Rs 50,000.
Market experts feel the customers can expect even more discounts as the auto companies are trying to make a recovery from last year’s slowdown. The companies are being forced to clear stocks and maintain the momentum going and are offering huge discounts.
The monsoon season is always a lean period but the steep hike in fuel prices could not have come at a worst time. Already, the market is flooded with discounts, especially in the high-volume compact car segment. Companies as well as dealers are busy dishing out further discounts to increase sales,” said a spokesman at Rana Motors, a Maruti Suzuki dealer in Delhi.
Though there has been growth in the market so far, the auto manufacturers have prepared themselves for a slump in the market. Despite the encouraging sales in the first two months of the fiscal, the industry experts are cautious. High interest rates, increasing fuel prices, spiralling inflation and restricted finance for vehicle purchases might make the coming months challenging for the industry.
“It is a difficult situation for us as we are under pressure from already rising input costs and high interest rates. The fuel price hike will definitely impact our sales and all the companies are trying to counter it by giving attractive discount offers. But in the long run, the customers will accept it and the sales should return to normal,” said Arvind Saxena, senior vice-president, marketing and sales, Hyundai Motors.
Fuel efficiency has also become an important issue these days and with soaring fuel prices, everyone wants to go in for a vehicle that can help them save some money. “There are promotional offers round the year, but the present situation has forced us to take stock of the situation seriously. Fuel efficiency is one area where we are working on. At a time when petrol and diesel prices are going up, it becomes an important issue for customers,” said Ankush Arora, vice-president, marketing and sales, General Motors India.
There has already been an increase in CNG-driven cars and the present oil crisis might lead to an increase in the sales of diesel-run cars. “We have a limited portfolio in alternate fuel-run cars but we have already seen an increased interest in CNG-run, diesel and alternate fuel-run cars. It has increased from approximately 28% in 2006 to 36% in 2007. We are expecting a higher increase this year,” added Saxena.
Car manufacturers recently increased prices by 4% citing high input costs as the reason. With these discounts, however, things look good for the customers as the price increase component has been balanced out by the discount. “The companies, however, are not offering heavy discounts on popular models. So while the prices of those models go up, other models fetch excellent discounts,” said a spokesman at Ring Road Honda, a Honda dealer in Delhi.
“The crude price hike is too recent to show its impact. We have various offers that are running but we can’t do anything more than that,” said a Tata Motors spokesperson. Most of the major manufacturers, however, have predicted a flat or very marginal sales growth this fiscal.