With sales down, car companies are increasing September discounts

Starting this month, the level of discounts has been increased from 10-12% of the average selling price (ASP) of a vehicle to 12-14% in August. For some models, the total discounts offered are over Rs 300,000, which includes cash discounts and corporate benefits.

In just one month, utility vehicle manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra has increased the discount on its Classic Scorpio The SUV model is priced at Rs 100,000 from Rs 20,271 in August. The absolute benefit may vary in each city depending on the stock and demand scenario, according to dealers. M&M has also made the purchase of the three-door Thar SUV model more attractive by drastically increasing the consumer benefit to Rs 150,000 this month from Rs 20,000.

“As part of the festive season, every year we carry out specific sales acceleration plans and this year too we have done the same across a select portion of the portfolio,” said Nalinikanth Gollagunta, CEO, M&M’s Automotive Division.

Similarly, Honda’s Amaze sedan is seeing profits totalling up to ₹112,000 this month, up from ₹96,000 last month.

Sales rose just 1% in the first five months of fiscal year 25
The City sedan’s total benefits have also been increased to Rs 114,000 from Rs 88,000, while the Elevate SUV has an additional offer of Rs 10,000, taking the total benefits to Rs 75,000.

“There is definitely a struggle to generate new demand,” said Kunal Behl, vice president of marketing and sales at Honda Cars in IndiaHowever, he believes that with the start of the holidays, “the worst is over.”

The heightened trend towards discounting comes ahead of the Shradh period, considered inauspicious by Indians, especially in North India, for making big-ticket purchases. This is likely to further impact sales in the coming weeks. However, the two-wheeler segment has largely been unaffected by the sharp discounting trend in the passenger vehicle segment, with profits remaining steady at around 5% of the average selling price. Green shoots in rural demand have helped boost sales of entry-level two-wheelers to some extent, which is expected to improve further in the coming weeks, dealers said.

Tata Motors It was the first to launch aggressive sales initiatives such as price cuts and offers to consumers to revive demand. Others are joining the fray before Shradh’s non-working sales period begins on September 17 and extends to October 2.

Automotive market leader Maruti Suzuki India has increased discounts on select models. While the offer on its popular Wagon R hatchback has been increased from Rs 47,000 to Rs 62,000, those buying the Baleno hatchback can avail a discount of Rs 100,000, compared to Rs 58,000 earlier.

Partho Banerjee, Senior Managing Director (Marketing & Sales) of Maruti Suzuki Maruti has said the company has been “consistent with its sales promotion” in the last two months. “We will see an uptick in the industry from now on. However, when compared to last year, the growth may look subdued due to the high base of last year,” it said. Maruti deliveries have increased by 10% in Kerala due to the Onam festival, and also in Maharashtra due to the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.

As for whether discounts necessarily result in higher sales, Behl said, “It helps when you’re offering more than others, but if everyone is at the same level, it doesn’t help much to pull the numbers.” But it definitely helps get shoppers to make purchases faster, he said.

Tata Motors On Tuesday, it announced a festive offer of up to Rs 300,000 on its electric vehicle range as part of its ‘Festival of Cars’ campaign till October 31. A day earlier, the company announced discounts (including a limited-time price cut) of up to Rs 2.03 lakh crore on its petrol, diesel and CNG range. Car sales rose just 1% in the first five months of the fiscal due to a prolonged general election and weather-related disruptions in Telangana, Gujarat and Kerala.