‘December discount' drive

Car dealers rev up for ‘December discount' drive:

It is that time of the year when those looking to acquire a car of their choice visit showrooms hunting for attractive discounts and freebies. Call it December ‘dhamaka,' it is when most of automotive players seek to increase their sales volumes.

The discounts just got bigger, with the country's largest carmaker Maruti announcing higher discounts and Tata Motors and Hyundai Motor continue to offer attractive packages. It won't be long before others follow suit.

For Higher numbers:

This is something unique to India. This has been the trend for the last four-five years when companies and dealers extend deep discounts to log higher numbers.

Discounts ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 27,500 for different models in the Maruti stable This has got bigger now, with the discounts ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 40,000. In fact, this could go up to about Rs 70,000 for SX4 sedan, if the buyer avails exchange and loyalty bonus.

Cars from the Tata Motors stable are now commanding discounts ranging from about Rs 15,000 to Rs 50,000 depending upon the model. The last few years have seen good numbers coming from December sales.

Hyundai 

has been offering discounts in the range of Rs 18,000 for i10, Rs 25,000 for Santro and Verna cars during November.

Nokia

Nokia not sure of dual SIM handset market sustaining:

Intense tariff war has led to flooding of the mobile phone market with lower-end products with dual SIM (Subscriber Identity Module). However, the single largest player in the handset market, Nokia, is yet to be convinced of the sustainability of the present trend.

According to IDC India, dual or multiple SIM handsets accounted for more than one-third (39 per cent) of the total number of handsets sold in the country during April-June 2010, up from one per cent a year ago.

The newly created market space has proved to be a game changer in the handset industry in the country, as new players (such as Micromax and Spice) have made their way among the top five sellers – largely riding on a range of dual SIM offerings.

Not to join ‘price game':

Nokia, admits that the dual-SIM market had “taken off” during the last one year. However, the company also makes it clear that it will not join the “price game”, the characteristic of the emergent market.

Compared to a range of dual SIM offerings by its competitors, Nokia currently has a single model (C-100) to offer in this category. Plans are afoot to launch a second model (C- 200) soon.

Dual-SIM is an India specific phenomenon arising out of the intense competition among the cellular operators to grab market share by unleashing a tariff war.

Whether this trend is sustainable over the long-term remains to be seen – especially with operators coming under increased pressure from tariff arbitrage

Expanding dual-SIM market:

The mobile telephony market is youth dominated resulting in competition and prevailing low telecom tariffs. These trends are expected to continue in the short (less than one year) - to medium-term (2-3 years).

The introduction of new brands has seen ‘emerging vendors' corner as much as 33 per cent of the country's mobile handset market in April-June 2010.

Sources: Business Line.