Petrol price hike: Cash in on car discounts

New Delhi: A day after petrol prices were hiked by an all-time record of Rs 7.50 per litre, leading car makers Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Hyundai Motor on Thursday announced discounts of up to Rs 50,000 on petrol models for a limited period.

While the country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India has offered a Rs 30,000 discount on its best selling small car Alto in order to stop falling sales in recent months, rival Tata Motors is giving rebate ranging between Rs 10,000 and Rs 50,000 on the petrol variants of Indica and Indigo family.

Hyundai Motor is giving discounts of up to Rs 3,000 on its entire range of petrol models.

"Sales of entry level cars are getting affected in recent months due to very high fuel prices. Sales of Alto is falling and to boost sales of the car, we will offer discounts of Rs 30,000 till month-end," Maruti Suzuki India Managing Executive Officer (Marketing and Sales) Mayank Pareek said.

The sales of Alto has come down to a monthly average of about 20,000-22,000 units from 25,000-28,000 units in last fiscal, he added.

Pareek said the company is also offering discounts to the tune of Rs 15,000-Rs 20,000 on other petrol models.

Talking about a similar step, a Tata Motors spokesperson said: "We are offering discounts on the petrol variants of Indica and Indigo family. The rebate will vary between Rs 10,000 and Rs 50,000 depending on the model."

Regarding the small car Nano, Tata Motors said it runs discount schemes every month and for May, the amount is Rs 10,000.

The country's second largest car maker Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) has also started giving a discount of up to Rs 3,000 on its all petrol cars under a "Petrol Price Lock Assurance" scheme, which will continue till May 31.

Customers will be offered discounts on the petrol models of the Eon, Santro, i10, i20, Accent and Verna, HMIL said.

"The Petrol Lock Scheme will insulate the customer from the impact of the price hike. The price hike is severe and we need to soften the blow for our customers," HMIL Director (Marketing and Sales) Arvind Saxena said.

Following the petrol price hike on Wednesday, the automobile industry hit out saying the increase will hurt the sector, which is already reeling under a slump.