Discounts galore as car-makers try to woo customers

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New Delhi: Exchange scheme for two-wheeler with a Tata Nano; discount of up to Rs 50,000 on diesel sedan SX4 from Maruti Suzuki; free insurance with some of the models from Ford and Honda - desperate times, desperate measures.
Reeling under prolonged spell of declining sales, major car makers in India are offering a variety of schemes, ranging from cash discounts to buyback benefits to special interest rates, to bring back customers back to the showrooms.
"Tata Nano customers can avail an exchange scheme which also has a 2-wheeler exchange programme," a Tata Motors spokesperson told PTI. There is also a offer on the Safari Storme which provides a bonus of Rs 30,000, for existing Tata customers. The company is also offering a Rs 15,000 exchange bonus on the Tata Sumo.
"In the hatchback segment we are currently offering an exchange scheme on the Tata Vista. In addition we are associating with HDFC and TMF (Tata Motor Finance) to offer a 3.99 per cent interest rate on the Tata Manza Club class," the spokesperson added.
Market leader Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) is also not far behind in coming out with schemes to woo customers. It is offering cash discounts across models with the highest of Rs 50,000 on diesel variant of sedan SX4. The country's largest car-maker said discount of Rs 30,000 could be availed on all variants of hatchback WagonR, Rs 28,000 on the Alto800, Rs 24,000 on Alto K10 and Rs 25,000 on all variants of Ritz.
The lowest discount is on Omni van at Rs 7,500. Besides, the car-maker is offering discounts of up to Rs 25,000 on petrol variant of its latest model Ertiga. It is, however, not giving any discount on Swift and Dzire models. Instead, it has launched special editions of both the models to prop up sales.
Other car-makers like like Ford India and Honda Cars India are offering free insurance on most of their models. Volkswagen, on the other hand is asking customers to pay only 20 per cent in advance and the remaining amount in 36 EMIs, as companies desperately try to boost sales. 

Honda Cars, which recently entered the lucrative compact sedan segment with Amaze, is also offering schemes on its other models. "We are giving insurance at Re 1 on certain variants of City and Brio, as part of sales promotion. However, there is no offer currently on Brio Automatic, CRV and top end of City and even Amaze," a Honda Cars India spokesperson said.
German car-makers Volkswagen and Skoda are also offering schemes on their various cars. While Volkswagen has launched a 'fully loaded offer' for Polo and Vento, Skoda has come out with a limited edition variant of Rapid sedan to shore up customers.
As per the Volkswagen scheme, a person can own the Polo and the Vento immediately by paying 20 per cent of the price and the remaining amount in a period of 36 months with an EMI of Rs 9,999 for Polo and Rs 14,699 for Vento. These schemes and offers come at a time when car sales in India fell for a record eighth month in row in June with a dip of 9 per cent as economic slowdown and low consumer sentiments continue to hit demand.
As per the latest Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) data, domestic car sales stood at 1,39,632 units in June as against 1,53,450 units in the same month last year. It has prompted the industry body to demand for a stimulus package for the automobile sector from the government.