Maruti Suzuki to slash car prices, passing on benefits of lower GST and offering extra discounts on select models.Maruti Suzuki will cut car prices across its product portfolio to extend full benefits of the lowered goods and services tax (GST) rates. India’s largest carmaker would also offer additional price reductions on some models.
The price cuts, ranging from ₹46,000 on the MPV Ertiga to ₹129,000 on the small car S-Presso, include both the GST benefit and price incentives offered by the company to boost car sales.
Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer (marketing and sales) at Maruti Suzuki, said the company has cut prices on small cars over and above the net benefit of 8.5 per cent accruing from the reduced GST to enable two-wheeler users upgrade to cars.
On the S-Presso, the automaker has extended 12.6-24 per cent price benefit, on the Alto K10 from 10.6-20 per cent, Celerio from 8.6-17 per cent, and the WagonR from 8.7-14 per cent. The entry-level Alto car will see up to ₹1.07 lakh price cut. Prices of SUVs like Fronx and Brezza have also been reduced by up to ₹1.12 lakh.
The revised prices will be rolled out from September 22 in line with the updated GST regulations, which coincides with the second leg of the festive season. The tax has been lowered to 18 per cent for small cars less than 4 metres in length from 29-31 per cent (GST and cess). Larger cars and SUVs will attract a special GST rate of 40 per cent, compared to the current 43-50 per cent.
“We strongly believe that sales of small cars have declined due to affordability issues,” said Banerjee. “Now there are several tailwinds due to lower GST, income tax slab revisions announced in the budget earlier this year and lower interest rates.”
