Slump drives dealers to offer schemes

INDORE: Post-budget, sale of cars was expected to go up following announcement of budgetary support by Union government like cut in excise and customs duty by 4%, but there was hardly a change in the situation. Now, dealers are resorting to freebies to woo customers to push up sales.
Announcing the annual budget on February 17, Union finance minister P Chidambaram had announced cut in central excise duty on cars across segments.It brought down price of four-wheelers. Still dealers are worried about the fact that there has not been any remarkable improvement in booking of cars.
In its bid to lure customers, Volkswagen is offering cash back schemes in the range of Rs 25,000-Rs 75,000. General manager of Volkswagen (VW) in Indore, Anup Tiwari, said, "Customers are a bit confused about which party will form the next government at the Centre and hence they are not in a mood to buy car of their choice."
Local dealer for Hyundai, Aditya Kasliwal, said, "Yes, sales couldn't pick up mass as per our expectations. Hence, we are offering schemes up to Rs 50,000."
Local dealer for Ford, Santosh Korde, said, "Market is unstable these days and hailstorm-hit farmers are not in a mood to buy a new car. Hence, we are offering schemes up to Rs 40,000 cash benefits to our customer."
A city-based dealer for Fiat, Rishi Saxena, said, "Our sales couldn't go up as per our expectations post-budget. Hence, we are currently offering exchange schemes up to Rs 70,000."
Same condition applies to premium cars as their sales too couldn't pick up by the budgetary support. An official of JLR said market sentiment is subdued in the industry."