January is the month when car manufacturers usually hike the prices of their cars. However, this year has been different. Companies like Maruti, Volkswagen, Hyundai have not increased the prices inspite of the fact that input costs have risen and rupee is much depreciated against dollar. All this is because gloomy economy is threatening to reduce the already lean customer presence in their showrooms. In fact, some of the car companies are still giving discounts on various models. For example, Nissan Micra is still available at Rs. 3,75,000 ex-showroom, Delhi against the usual price of Rs. 4,10,000. Volkswagen is luring the customers with a surprise gift if they book Polo/Vento. Maruti is continuing with various discounts on its models.
It is the first time in 15 years that companies have not hiked the prices in January.
Car sales are down from 218000 (September 2011) to 159000 (December 2011) in spite of heavy discounts given in December. This shows how badly sales have been affected during this period.
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