Maruti increases discounts on Ertiga to combat Mobilio

Maruti was finally able to make it a two horse race in the MPV segment when it launched the Ertiga a notch below the Toyota Innova and has comfortably held its place ever since. The two models could co-exist because of their positioning and price points and so neither turned out to step on each other’s feet. But with the Mobilio launch in a few days, things are about to change.

The Mobilio will be priced competitively to the Ertiga than the Innova and is closer to the Ertiga too in comparison. With the Mobilio package using tried and tested mechanicals and banking on Honda’s sales high created by the Amaze and the City, there’s little doubt of the Mobilio failing in the MPV segment. Nothing can be said for sure till the Mobilio is on sale for a few months in India but Maruti seems to be gearing up for a tough battle ahead.

And so the Ertiga, which is averaging over 5,000 units every month, is being offered with a discounts bundle of Rs 70,000 which includes a hefty cash discount, exchange bonus and a corporate discount. Discounting is common practice in the auto industry among cars that aren’t selling too well but for one that’s going off the block like hot cakes, is a sign of reacting to competition. 

The Mobilio is expected to be launched with a starting price of around Rs 6 lakh for the petrol variant. It comes with a monocoque chassis and a choice of petrol and diesel engines and gearboxes shared with the Honda City. The petrol is the 1.5-litre i-VTEC mill developing 119PS of power and the 1.5-litre diesel engine pumps out 100PS. Both outputs are higher than the Ertiga and the Mobilio also has a better fuel efficiency figure of 17.3kmpl for the petrol and 24.2kmpl for the diesel (16.02/22.77kmpl for the Ertiga).