Mahindra XUV700, Tata Harrier, latest offers and price cuts, fresh details

The Indian passenger car segment seems to be tilting towards becoming a ‘buyer’s market’ with popular SUVs like the Maruti Suzuki Brezza and Grand Vitara, and Honda Elevate receiving lucrative discounts. On the other hand, the Mahindra XUV700, and Tata’s Harrier and Safari have received considerable price cuts.

Dealers are reporting a massive inventory situation of around 65-67 days, which is over double that of the normal levels. This makes it amply clear that manufacturers are swinging into action, and offering schemes that lure buyers into showrooms, despite the festive season being a couple of months away.

With slowing growth and rising inventory, major brands like Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) have got into a price war to woo buyers with their respective flagship SUVs. While the Harrier and Safari received a price cut that ranges from Rs 50,000 to Rs 70,000, depending on the model, Mahindra rolled out a ‘temporary price reduction’ on the XUV700 as an indirect response.

Depending on the variant, the XUV700 has received price cuts of around Rs 2 lakh. However, in a stock exchange filing, Mahindra said, “The announced price cut of XUV700 is a continuation of our business strategy execution that was articulated in our February 14, 2024 analyst meeting where we clearly outlined that we have to bring the average price point down to drive growth.” Mahindra is expecting to grow in the mid-teens in the current financial year.

Despite multiple offers and finance schemes over the last few months, both Indian brands haven’t seen much change. While sales of the Harrier and Safari have registered a downward trend from more than 2,500 units units in January 2024 to around 1,300 units in June, there is no respite for M&M either. XUV700 sales have declined from around 7,200 units in January to 5,900 units last month. While the price cuts announced by Tata Motors and M&M are being touted as ‘temporary’ and might end in some time, we expect the SUVs to continue to be available at these prices for an elongated period.

Due to the slowing demand for the XUV700, production for the SUV has also gone down to 6,000-7,000 units from the earlier planned 10,000 a month, say sources.

Maruti, Hyundai models attract huge discounts

And the story does not end with Tata and Mahindra, country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki, on the other hand, has been pushing sales at both its Arena and premium Nexa outlets with multiple offers every month since January 2024. While the brand introduced a Dream series line-up of cars last month, Maruti says it has gathered around 21,000 bookings for the limited-edition Dream range and has extended the scheme into July as well. The Dream Edition line-up consists of entry-level models, including the Alto K10, S-Presso and Celerio, which are now available under this scheme with more equipment at a common starting price of Rs 4.5 lakh, ex-showroom. These entry-level Marutis have been struggling for quite some time in a market that is visibly shifting upwards towards more premium and better-equipped cars.

What is more, the brand has also introduced a similar offer package for the popular Brezza SUV which has also seen a notable drop in sales in the last few months. Sales of the Brezza were down to around 13,000 units in June from around 17,000 units in April this year. In comes the newly-launched Brezza Urbano Edition that gets more accessories at a discounted rate, thus claiming to give the consumer more value for their money.

Even the latest-gen Maruti Suzuki Swift hatchback that went on sale only in May this year has not been able to ride on the success of its predecessor. While dealer-level discounts of around Rs 10,00 were already being offered unofficially in June, Maruti has now officially announced discounts of up to Rs 15,000 in the month of July for its newest hatchback.

While Hyundai continues to see strong sales for its best-selling SUV – Creta – the No. 2 carmaker’s other models like the Alcazar and Exter are experiencing lesser demand. The brand introduced a dark edition of its smallest SUV called the Exter Knight and has been offering discounts in the range of Rs 10,000-20,000 on the standard Exter line-up since the last few months.

The Alcazar too is expected to receive a mid-life update by September, and therefore, existing stock is being offered with multiple offers and discounts of upto Rs 80,000 depending on variant and inventory levels at dealers. Hyundai despatched over 1,800 units of the Alcazar in January this year and the numbers have come down to mere 800 units for June 2024. One of the reasons for the lower numbers of the Alcazar is that the launch of the facelift is just around the corner and the current model is in its run-out phase.

The Venue compact SUV that rivals the Brezza also gets discounts of up to Rs 55,000 this month.  Sales have seen a slight dip for this model as well. Apart from the SUV line-up, hatchbacks like the Grand i10 Nios and the i20 can be purchased with offers and benefits of up to Rs 50,000. 

 

With leading mainstream brands like Mahindra, Tata, Hyundai and Maruti Suzuki seeing lesser demand, other brands like Volkswagen and Honda have been offering as much as six-figure discounts on their models. Volkswagen and Skoda are offering discounts and benefits of over 1.5 lakh on most of their India 2.0 line-up that includes the Slavia, Virtus, Kushaq and the Taigun.

The Honda Elevate, on the other hand, is available with benefits of around Rs 70,000 since a few months. Sales of the Elevate have also seen a major downward trend with around 4,500 units in January to a mere 2,100 units in June this year. Even the City sedan now can be had with benefits of around Rs 1 lakh at most locations with the City hybrid seeing even higher discounts. Thanks to the waiver of road tax announced in the state of UP, the City e:HEV can be had with even a lower price in this state.

What do experts say?

A ground level check with the dealers of these brands reveals a significant decline in customer footfalls at most locations and unsold inventory piling up. As per Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing and Sales, Maruti Suzuki, the soaring temperatures witnessed in several parts of the country over the last few months, accompanied with the national elections that culminated in June, kept buyers away from visiting showrooms. The top carmaker by sales volumes acknowledges that its 38-day inventory level is slightly above the normal range.

As a result, waiting periods are on the decline, with most popular models available within two to three weeks except the ones in huge demand that continue to have their waiting periods stretching in months. High demand SUVs like the XUV700, the Scorpio N, Harrier, Safari, Brezza and even MPVs like the Ertiga are readily available at most locations, depending on dealer inventory.

With the ‘pent-up demand’ generated due to the infamous chip shortage during the peak of Covid having tapered off over the last few months, and with raw materials being easily available to automakers, there is again a demand-supply mismatch that seems to have emerged in the market. And, with the entry-level segment continuing to reel under an affordability challenge, OEMs can now only pray for the rain gods to improve the situation in the monsoon, even as they roll out some hefty offers. “With monsoon forecast being above normal, and good projections for the Kharif crop, we are bullish about the momentum going forward,” said Maruti Suzuki’s Banerjee.

With inputs from Ketan Thakkar and Mayank Dhingra

Also see:

Defender, Range Rover lead JLR India sales of 1,371 units in Q1 FY25

CNG car, SUV sales increased 49 percent in 2024 first half

Electric car, SUV sales drop 20 percent in June 2024