Best discounts this March

In order to get rid of huge inventories at dealerships, the car manufacturers are offering discounts better than December, which is traditionally considered as the peak of discounts. Carmakers had last month pushed dispatches to dealers to escape any post-budget price as they anticipated a 2 percent rise in excise duty.

But despite record sales of 1.89 lakh cars in the month, dealers are sitting on large inventories. So the companies are now encouraging them to get rid of the stock by offering higher discounts.

As per the dealers, 50 per cent market share holder, Maruti Suzuki is giving up to Rs. 40,000 in discounts, while Hyundai is offering up to RS. 45,000 and Honda up to Rs. 55,000 rebate. "The current discounts are the highest in the fiscal to boost retail sales and deplete all inventories," a Delhi-based Maruti Suzuki dealer said.

Maruti Suzuki has almost doubled the rebates on its popular models this month. It is offering a discount of Rs. 30,000 on Alto K10 and Rs. 35,000 on A-Star and WagonR. Its SX4 sedan carries the highest discount of Rs. 40,000, which is way above Rs.15,000 that was being offered in the month of February on the same petrol variant.

Moreover, Honda Siel, maker of the City and Accord cars, has started offering free insurance options on its best-selling City sedan, which forms almost 80 per cent of its total sales.