Carmakers offer year-end discounts to clear stocks
2 min read . Updated: 08 Dec 2022, 05:57 AM IST
Premium- Year-end push expected to drive up December sales; fewer offers available on two-wheelers
NEW DELHI : Automakers are rolling out discounts for customers to clear stocks, especially of slow-moving or entry-level vehicles, before the year ends.
Carmakers are hoping discounts will drive purchases and likely propel December retail sales higher as customers queue up looking for a bargain. While year-end discounts are a usual industry practice, dealers Mint spoke to said that offers on two-wheelers are not as common after the festive season. auto
Maruti Suzuki is urging customers to make purchases in December before prices go up in January. It has increased cash discounts on models such as Alto, S-Presso, Dzire and Eeco, as well as more premium models like the Ciaz, the new Baleno and Ignis in December compared to the previous month.
Discounts have also been lowered on a couple of models—the new WagonR as well as Celerio. Discounts range from ₹57,000 on the WagonR to ₹72,000 on Alto K10.
Tata Motors is offering upfront cash discounts and exchange benefits totalling ₹65,000 on its SUVs Safari and Harrier. Models such as the Tiago and Tigor are available with discounts of up to ₹35,000. Tata Motors, too, has announced that it will hike prices across its passenger vehicle range from January.
Mahindra & Mahindra is offering discounts of up to ₹1 lakh on the XUV300 and ₹95,000 on the Bolero and Bolero Neo. Even some petrol variants of the Thar are available at a modest discount of ₹20,000.
“There are discounts on offer at the momentum, but they’re not to the quantum seen the previous year when the market was constrained on the supply side. We believe it is better to offer discounts in December and liquidate stock than to carry it into the next year and have to offer even steeper schemes in January", an executive at the company said, requesting anonymity.
Hefty benefits are on offer from Hyundai as well. The company has advertised benefits of up to ₹63,000 on the Grand i10 Nios, while models such as Aura and i20 are also being sold at a discount.
On the two-wheeler front, market leader Hero MotoCorp, which raised prices across its range of two-wheelers in December for the fifth time this year, is now offering discounts to lower the consequently high upfront cost for customers. Cash discounts of ₹3,000 on models such as the Passion Pro are on offer till the end of the year. While there aren’t many discounts on popular products such as the HF Deluxe and Splendor, dealers expect the company may choose to introduce new schemes towards the second half of this month.
However, retail sales of two-wheelers rose in November even after the festive season concluded in January and is likely to surpass its peak 2019 levels. “In this scenario, when retail has been good, I am surprised that two-wheeler makers are discounting. This can only indicate that the registration numbers spiking isn’t reflecting true market sentiment on the ground, and OEMs are eager to clear inventory before the new year begins," a two-wheeler dealer told Mint.
While Bajaj Auto hasn’t announced any upfront cash discounts before the year ends, the company hasn’t taken a price hike since July, unlike its rivals.
TVS Motor Co. has also announced discount offers worth up to ₹5,500 across different model ranges.
