I was looking forward to buy an XC90 Inscription in Bangalore and was already in talks with Martial Motors sales manager but when I was about to make the booking, my business partner says he wants to book an XC90 Excellence as well and a S60 Polestar.
Called the sales manager and informed him about the XC90s and S60 Polestar purchase and asked him to get me best on road price. A friend happened to know MD of Martial Motors and he said I will talk to Ritesh and get me the best discount possible.
I wait for a few days and they got back to me with the pricing, was not super happy with the pricing of XC90s but Ritesh said that this is the lowest he can offer. I got about 8L discount on the D5 Inscription and 16L on the Excellence (both with free extended warranty which is extra 1.5L). S60 Polestar deal was closed at 60L OTR and advance payment was made, the car is due for delivery on 28th which may not happen as I am thinking of cancelling the purchase. Read below as to why.
Now start the shady tactics. Mr.Ritesh says both the cars will be MY18 103.5 and there will be some features which will be added compared to MY17 cars, when I ask him what are the extra features he says massager seats and 360 degree camera and something else, he does not have an answer for that something else. Ritesh promised me that both the cars will be delivered within 4 weeks from the date of booking.
The sales manager in the meantime calls me and says auto braking i.e. intellisafe has been activated for all Volvo XC90s in India but not on the lone TD car they have which sounded shady to me. I told the manager get it activated on the TD car and get it home as my mom wants to check the car and I want to test the intellisafe system before I book. The sales manager dropped at my office yesterday afternoon to collect the cheque. I told him until you get me that TD with intellisafe car and get me better pricing, else I am not booking.
Last evening I was checking Talwar Volvo website and was shocked to see the ex-showroom price of the car , then checked Mumbai pricing it was the same as Hyderabad and again checked Bangalore pricing, it is advertised same but in reality it is not.
Website Prices of Talwar Volvo Hyderabad, KIFS Volvo Mumbai and Martial Motors Bangalore.
Ex-Showroom Price of D5 Inscription in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bangalore: 82,90,000/-
Ex-Showroom Price of T8 Excellence in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bangalore: 1,27,50,000/-
Here are the links to respective dealer’s websites.
Hyderabad:
Talwar Volvo Prices
Mumbai:
KIFS Volvo Prices
Bangalore:
Martial Volvo Prices
These are the prices of both cars in reality in Bangalore.
D5 Inscription: 85,90,000/-
T8 Excellence: 1,38,00,000 /-
I called up Ritesh and confronted him on the same, his argument is that the website prices are wrong and Volvo never updated them and they are pre GST prices. Well the irony is that I have the pre GST prices and they are nowhere close to what is advertised on the website. Ritesh says those are wrong prices and Talwar cannot give you at those prices as I know Talwar as well. You are free to go ahead and call Talwar and get prices, it will be the same as what I am selling in Bangalore.
Took help of my cousin and got quote from Talwar Hyderabad and another friend helped me in getting the price list from KIFS Volvo Mumbai. The ex-showroom price advertised in their respective websites is what they are quoting on paper as well, shared the same with Ritesh over WhatsApp and asked him what this is and called him.
Below is the conversation I had with him over call
Me: Why is your ex showroom higher than what it is sold elsewhere?
Ritesh: This is my pricing - either you buy or you don't buy and I have the control over pricing and I have offered you best deal.
Me: That is totally wrong, how can you dealers control the prices. Take Merc or Audi or BMW - they quote exact same prices what is given in their own website.
Ritesh: I have the control over prices and I can increase or reduce them. I have my reasons which I cannot tell you
Me: I don’t want to do business with people who are shady and unethical.
Ritesh: Sir, this is not correct. I have been talking to you since long and have given you enough discounts and this is my call. You can go buy Mercs or Audi or BMW but this is my final price.
Me: Ritesh, I will have to rethink about doing business with you and there is no point you offering me discount after jacking up the prices at your will and wish.
Ritesh: You are free to not book with me and go ahead and buy elsewhere
Me: I am ready to book the cars paying full price i.e. without any discounts or freebies if your ex showroom price is same as advertised by Volvo.
I do not record my calls but in this case I wish i had activated recording.I never liked the tone of his voice over the call. He sounded rude and arrogant
Vice President Sales of Talwar Volvo called me up like 10 minutes ago. He was asking me why are you buying in Hyderabad when you are in Bangalore. I told what happened, he was like the prices what you are telling me are wrong and what you have received from my dealership is what Volvo sells all over India.
I shared the Bangalore pricelist with him over the call and he says “Sir this is not real, these are not the prices of Volvo Cars in India, the pricing across India is same exactly of what was shared to you. I am not sure what is happening and why is this happening”, during the course of call he told me that Inscription cannot be delivered before November 15th as Volvo India does not have stock and if Mr. Ritesh has told you that the car will be delivered in 4 weeks, that is not true. I was shocked again, first a lie about pricing and now a lie about delivery.
VP sales of Talwar asks me whether I am still interested in booking the cars and he will talk to President of Martial Motors. I said yes but only if he can provide answers for the below.
1) Why are the prices in Bangalore different from what it is in Mumbai or Hyderabad and how come a dealer can control prices of cars?
2) Why was I told a lie about delivery?
I have written a mail to Volvo, tweeted them and wrote on FB page as to why there is a huge price difference in Bangalore compared to other cities.
A rogue dealer is more than enough to completely mess up a manufacturer’s reputation in India and in this case Volvo. I had a lot of respect towards Volvo but thanks to Martial Motors, Mr. Ritesh Reddy, it has gone down the drain.
Attaching the pricelist i got from Mumbai , Hyderabad and Bangalore's real one