Carmakers in India have slashed prices as the once booming industry struggles to maintain sales amid a slower economy and tighter credit.
The Economic Times reports that Hyundai is selling its compact Santro at its 1998 launch price of 299,000 rupees (US$6,020), down from the regular price of around 333,000 rupees and is offering incentives such as insurance, accessories and exchange bonuses on other models in December. Ford’s Indian unit has cut up to 91,000 rupees off its supermini Ford Fiesta for ten days, the paper says.
In addition the company is also offering exchange bonus and a loyalty scheme on its models. “The schemes announced will provide our customers with an attractive value for money proposition and with the prevailing economic conditions this should provide an impetus for our sales and offset a part of the ownership cost which has gone up considerably in the past few months,” said Mr Arvind Saxena, Senior Vice- President, Sales and Marketing, Hyundai Motors India in a statement.
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“There is a slowdown in the market place and consumer confidence is low. We had a situation here. So we are taking the opportunity to stimulate the market,” said Nigel Warks, Ford India’s executive director of marketing, sales and service, speaking to the ET.
In a bid to reduce rising inventories before the year ends, automakers are expected to aggressively push sales, resulting in higher discounts this December.
“Discounts this year should be better than last year as carmakers look to liquidate stock,” said Sanjay Thukral, general manager at Sanya Automobiles Pvt. Ltd, a Tata Motors Ltd dealership in Delhi, speaking to the Mint website.
Toyota Kirloskar – a joint venture between Toyota Motor and Kirloskar Motors India – has put the launch of the Prius hybrid on hold because it cannot price the car competitively against its Honda rival more…
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By GlobalDataBriefing: India automotive market review
