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Maruti 800 sales up 50% after price cuts

Partha Ghosh in New Delhi

Sales of the Maruti 800 have gone up around 50 per cent in the past few days, after Maruti Udyog reduced the prices of the entry-level car by Rs 15,000-18,000.

Several Maruti dealers in Delhi are placing potential buyers of the Maruti 800 DX, the top-end variant of the car, on a three-day waiting list.

In some cases, potential customers are being upgraded to the B-segment Alto LX which, after dealer discounts, is priced Rs 20,000 higher than the top-end Maruti 800.

Dealers say the company has sounded them off on a price hike in September, the reason being an increase in input costs which cannot be sustained at the current price levels. The company declined to comment on the pricing policy, but confirmed that sales had increased one-and-a-half times after the reduction in prices.

Competent Automobile, one of the biggest dealers of Maruti, told Business Standard potential buyers of the Maruti 800 DX were being placed on the wait-list for around three days due to the non-availability of the car.

"The company has not been to able to meet the demand-supply gap. Part of the problem was the non-availability of a few parts at the manufacturers' end which has now been sorted out. Still, we cannot promise a car before three days," the dealer said.

A dealer in South Delhi said in the past 15 days, bookings of the Maruti 800 increased phenomenally.

"Demand for all the three variants has increased. This comes as a boon because bookings for the Alto and the WagonR have also improved," he said.

Maruti's B-segment offerings are coming at a discount of Rs 25,000-35,000. This has reduced the differentials between the A-segment and the B-segment cars. The Alto now costs only Rs 20,000 more than the M-800 DX, post-discount.

Before the reduction in prices of the Maruti 800 last month, the price differentials between the two segments were prompting potential buyers in the A and B segments to opt for vehicles of other manufacturers. This prompted Maruti to change its pricing strategy.

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