27 December, 2007 : India’s car market leader Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) has announced a special savings scheme - Happy Customer Offer - under which it will sell cars at discounted prices. The discounts will range from Rs 18,500 to Rs 57,500 depending on the models.Under the new savings scheme Maruti Suzuki will offer discounts for its various models till this year end.

Maruti Omni can now be purchased at a discount of Rs 18,500, while the company’s bread and butter car Maruti 800 becomes cheaper by Rs 26,000. India’s bestseller hatchback Alto can be got at Rs 24,500 less. The company tall boy hatch Wagon-R, which comes in petrol and LPG versions, is now cheaper by Rs 45,000 and Rs 24,500 respectively. Zen Estilo comes with a Rs 48,000 discount price. The company announced a maximum discount of Rs 57,500 on its midsize sedan Esteem.

The discount being offered across various models also includes finance payouts and exchange bonuses apart from the customer offer. Two of its bestselling cars Swift (both diesel and petrol) and its premium sedan SX4 have been kept out of the special savings scheme. The company states that the demand for these is more than its supply and therefore, the company is not offering any discount on these two models. The discount comes just days before the price hike will become effective on its various models by up to Rs 2,000, regarding which the dealers have already been informed.

Hyundai Motors has also announced discounts for several of it models, close on the heels of Maruti Suzuki’s announcement. The discounts range from Rs 37,100 to Rs 55,953. All discount offers include free insurance, accessories, an extended warranty, and exchange offers. The offer is valid till this year-end.

Car market observers said that Maruti’s and Hyundai’s decision to announce discounts is a normal practice by auto makers to push sales during year-end when customers postpone their decision to buy vehicles until the next year arrives. If a car is bought in December 2007 it will be considered a 2007 Model, even with difference of a few days between the dates, and this will result in a drop in the resale value of the particular car. Hence car sales usually slump in the last couple of months in the year.