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BQ Survey | Hefty Discounts Fail To Boost Auto Sales As 2018 Draws To A Close

Even new launches failed to spur demand.

Bajaj Dominar parked inside Bajaj showroom for sale at Malad, Mumbai (Source: BloombergQuint)
Bajaj Dominar parked inside Bajaj showroom for sale at Malad, Mumbai (Source: BloombergQuint)

Year-end discounts failed to lift auto sales in December, adding to the slowdown after a poor festival season, according to BloombergQuint’s survey of seven dealers from across the country.

Sales volumes for most automakers declined month-on-month by 10-15 percent, according to the survey. That led to an inventory pile-up at yards, dealers said.

Consumers usually stay away from buying new vehicles in December as new year’s registration date offers a better resale value. While discounts helped to some extent, they weren’t enough to revive sales, the survey found. Even new launches failed to spur demand. Though there is a waiting period for some vehicles, carmakers hoped for a more enthusiastic response to new launches—including Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.’s Marazzo.

BQ Survey | Hefty Discounts Fail To Boost Auto Sales As 2018 Draws To A Close

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Two-Wheelers

Two-wheeler sales seen slowing down in December as rural demand remains muted.

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According to the survey, the liquidity crunch faced by non-banking financial companies hurt truck sales due to selective funding.

Maruti Suzuki

India’s largest carmaker is offering discounts of upto Rs 75,000. For Baleno and Brezza, the offer is upto Rs 40,000 (Rs 25,000 exchange + Rs 15,000 cash discount)

The waiting period for new Ertiga is three months.

Here’s a snapshot of discounts top automakers are offering to boost sales:

Tata Motors

Nexon: Rs 35,000 (Rs 15,000 cash + Rs 20,000 exchange)

Tigor: Rs 35,000 (Rs 15,000 cash + Rs 20,000 exchange)

Hexa: Rs 50,000 cash

Mahindra & Mahindra

Balero: Rs 50,000

Scorpio: Rs 85,000

Marazzo waiting period is 6 weeks

Hero MotoCorp

Offers a discount of Rs 3,000 in collaboration with Paytm.

Bajaj Auto

555 (five-year free insurance, warranty services); cash discounts up to Rs 10,000 on the Dominar

TVS

The company has offers on down payment and interest rate. Paytm and other benefits add up to Rs 7,500 on the RTR160.

Here’s Hormazd Sorabjee’s outlook for the auto sector in 2019.