[anu21v]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Here is the letter received regarding 9 months delay for Ertiga. I am posting this as requested by some members here.

The ertiga's high waiting period is limited to "ZDI variant only" and it is not because of Engine Capacity (if you read the letter of maruti, it talked only about ZDI). AFAIK, It has more to do with some of the imported components on ZDI due to lower volume Forecast of ZDI model by maruti. If one has to go for any other variants there is not much of waiting period.

My suggestion to everyone is not get into the glib talks of dealers, all you have to do is insist on less than 2 weeks delivery. You will definitely get it unless it is swift/ertiga ZDI version which have genuine shortage problem.

Almost all the cars Including the diesel ones are available off-the-shelf right now. I had read in a paper few days back that even swift LDI/VDI is available on almost immediate basis. This all on account of slowdown of economy and reluctance of buyers to go for high ticket items.

Read through the forums all the Tata and VW diesel cars along with many other manufacturers are running a very high inventory level and are note able to sell even their diesel cars. I would assume same would be the case with every other manufacturer.

[rameshnanda]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

For my Swift ZDi which I booked in March, my delivery date as of now is December this year (9 months). They charged me 10k as booking amount. Some dealers charge as low as 5k also here.

Is that 9 month waiting period still hold good?

I am asking this because, 2 weeks back I enquired with a Maruti dealer who put up a stall at the Chennai City Centre. I enquired about the VDI and ZDI variants. They clearly told me that the waiting period for VDI is 1 month and for ZDI, 1.5 months maximum. If I am fine with black VDI, they are ready to deliver immediately. You may need to talk with your dealer.

[Waggy]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Here is the letter received regarding 9 months delay for Ertiga. I am posting this as requested by some members here.

9 Months??? I'd rather go for a Royal Enfield (4 months delivery time in BLR)
I got my car in less than 10 days with no wait period! I think the "leaks" on change of Govt' policies to tax more on diesel cars might be the reason for the queue at the moment or the car manufacturers planning to make more money by having the customers pay more at the time of delivery? (attributing to increased on-road price prevailing at the time of deliver?)

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by rameshnanda

Is that 9 month waiting period still hold good?

I am asking this because, 2 weeks back I enquired with a Maruti dealer who put up a stall at the Chennai City Centre. I enquired about the VDI and ZDI variants. They clearly told me that the waiting period for VDI is 1 month and for ZDI, 1.5 months maximum. If I am fine with black VDI, they are ready to deliver immediately. You may need to talk with your dealer.

Actually it doesn't hold good now Ramesh . I had got a call from my SA a few days back and he offered me a blue ZDi for immediate delivery to avoid the diesel tax hike (which is still a proposal - the 1.8 lac hike proposal) . I suspected some foul play because when I asked him how he suddenly got 1 blue ZDi, he said they received an 'extra' car in this month's shipment. Upon further investigation bypassing him, I found it was oct 2011 manufactured, and someone else had rejected this car before me during his PDI in april. I did not bother pursuing it further since I neither want an old car which was rotting at the yard, nor a lemon which has failed another PDI.

Anyway, coming to your question - the SA called me on saturday and told me the waiting period will go down to 2.5-3 months now for ZDi after this increase in production capacity. I am looking at a prospective delivery date of around September - October.

[carwatcher]

It is only a matter of time before XUV500 is also would be available off the shelf. Infact, when I searched on Carwale 40-50 XUVs are already up for sale and few with 0 reading on the ODO.

[bkbkr1212]

Quite strange this discussion itself.
None of these companies, whether it be Maruti, Hyundai,Honda or for that matter any car manufactures are forcing customers to buy a specific car.
As buyers, if we think the waiting period is too high and there are similar or better options available, why not go for those?
Why are people hell bent on buying a Swift instead of a Punto or a Polo? These maybe at a slightly higher price, but doesn't have to put with this obscene waiting period. Almost a year for a car. Crazy to say the least.

So does it mean that people who are waiting for their choice of cars are not enlightened enough?
Also, the demand for these cars will come down if buyers flock to some other car(s).
Ex:- Honda City is a much superior car to Verna (if reviews are anything to go by), still Verna outsells City by a huge margin. Diesel variant cannot be the only reason.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by bkbkr1212

if we think the waiting period is too high and there are similar or better options available, why not go for those? Why are people hell bent on buying a Swift instead of a Punto or a Polo?

Maybe because similar or better options are not available. Polo looks good, but in its diesel version is a dud to drive (from my TD experience) which might be going against it compared to the Swift. Punto maybe because it just happened to be born in the wrong family (manufacturer).

Originally Posted by bkbkr1212

Honda City is a much superior car to Verna (if reviews are anything to go by), still Verna outsells City by a huge margin. Diesel variant cannot be the only reason.

I would think diesel is the main reason, if not the only reason. If you noticed, Honda is testing the diesel Brio - this coming from a manufacturer who earlier said they wont go diesel, since the diesel available in India is not good enough. They will go out of business if they dont bring diesel in their lineup.

[agspins]

Dont know what these Dealers/manufacturers upto? Booked a Swift ZDI for a friend on Saturday and taking delivery on coming Thursday, reason for instant delivery, couple of Phone calls. Chart displays waiting period of 52 weeks for ZDI and 50 weeks for VDI.

Last year another friend picked up a VDI from another dealer, delivery within a week, only condition was get all the accessories from the dealer.
Same was the story with Verna SX (O), official waiting 6 months, with jugaad within a month.

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by Waggy

9 Months??? I'd rather go for a Royal Enfield (4 months delivery time in BLR)
I got my car in less than 10 days with no wait period! I think the "leaks" on change of Govt' policies to tax more on diesel cars might be the reason for the queue at the moment or the car manufacturers planning to make more money by having the customers pay more at the time of delivery? (attributing to increased on-road price prevailing at the time of deliver?)

Car companies wont dare make more money now - what with the already inflated taxes and input costs. The reason they are rushing all deliveries now quickly is because, if the diesel tax comes into effect, everyone who booked their cars will cancel them. And the car companies who manufacture against a booking are gonna be sitting on a pretttty big inventory.

Remember, you pay the entire amount only a day or two before delivery. So if you find out on your PDI day that your car is suddenly gonna cost 2 lakhs more, would you go ahead or would you cancel?

Anyone buying a car under 10L will probably do the sane thing and just cancel.

[Mpower]

People aspire to own something unique and exclusive and a newly launched cars gives them that. Plus they want the latest technology and look that comes with it.

For example the Optra diesel is still fine car at a fine price but v few people want it it because the shape has been around for too long.

So naturally there is a huge demand for a just launched car. Another cause is that it takes a few months for the plant to ramp up to full line speed.

[carwatcher]

It has been discussed in numerous posts on T-BHP that Swift is an excellent overall package. As the price is good (if not VFM), excellent engine (Fiat's MJD), excellent driving pleasure, stunning looks and the killer resale value makes it a No brainer. What more one could ask for? Atleast a non-TBHPian.
If you purely look from a financial criteria, Swift if the car to own in today's scenario.
At the same time Herd mentality also plays its part in a some way too, resulting in No boot space, claustrophobic rear seat, etc. are overlooked. Another proof of that is when budget was nearing junta was lining up to buy any Diesel car available be it Polo, Punto, Beat, etc. One more point to note that while Herd Mentality makes a person to go for one particular product (latest eg XUV), it also makes one Not to go for particular product too (read Fiat).
People do go for other cars if the waiting period is longer for their choice of cars. Polos, Puntos, etc sales numbers will be more pathetic if Swift is available with lesser waiting period. Exact same story is with Honda Activa. Duro, Wego, Access, etc are sold in decent nos. just because Activa is unable to meet the huge demand and running a waiting list of almost an year.

Originally Posted by bkbkr1212

Why are people hell bent on buying a Swift instead of a Punto or a Polo? These maybe at a slightly higher price, but doesn't have to put with this obscene waiting period. Almost a year for a car. Crazy to say the least.

I can see two reasons for this:
First it is a well known fact that Verna (and Hyundai) cars are known for more features in their cars.
Secondly, as I have read on sales analysis thread by GTO that P : D sales ratio is generally 30:70 which manufacturers generally don't disclose easily. Taking that into consideration I can deduce that City nos are equal or more than Verna (P).

Originally Posted by bkbkr1212

Ex:- Honda City is a much superior car to Verna (if reviews are anything to go by), still Verna outsells City by a huge margin. Diesel variant cannot be the only reason.

[Waggy]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

the car companies who manufacture against a booking are gonna be sitting on a pretttty big inventory.

Remember, you pay the entire amount only a day or two before delivery. So if you find out on your PDI day that your car is suddenly gonna cost 2 lakhs more, would you go ahead or would you cancel?

Anyone buying a car under 10L will probably do the sane thing and just cancel.

Your post absolutely makes sense! But it was me, I'd rather go for a competitor who can deliver my car in days (of course, the other factors and reviews would go in as well) rather than waiting for 9 odd months to enjoy the driving pleasure of a diesel car!

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by bkbkr1212

Why are people hell bent on buying a Swift instead of a Punto or a Polo? These maybe at a slightly higher price, but doesn't have to put with this obscene waiting period. Almost a year for a car. Crazy to say the least.

So does it mean that people who are waiting for their choice of cars are not enlightened enough?
Also, the demand for these cars will come down if buyers flock to some other car(s).

Well let me take an example of myself. We had a 2006 Swift zxi at home. Now I find the office commute taxing me too much with petrol costs, so I settle in for a diesel hatch. I test drove most of the hatches and the one which ticks most boxes for me is the swift zdi. Features - tick, driving pleasure - tick, handling /ride quality - tick, ease of maintenance with maruti's after sales - double tick, looks - tick, fuel efficiency - tick, driver ergonomics - tick, everything else - tick.

What did Swift lack that I could have found with other competitors? Lack of boot space- not a concern for me since I will be using only in the city (linea goes on highway trips), claustrophobic back seat - not a concern since I will be using it solo most of the times. In short, nothing can replace the Swift other than a new Swift itself, at least for me! Owning a Fiat myself and enjoying it, I can assure you I wasn't biased against the punto initially either. Its just that the Swift is peppier and offers more bang for the buck. I am sure many more Swift buyers will be like me, who appreciate the overall value this product offers in all aspects. Hence the outrageous numbers you see for the Swift. It is hardly about lesser enlightenment, but more about practicality and allrounded value.

Waiting period - I wasn't in a hurry to get one asap so my case would slightly be odd-man-out. I just booked it and let time decide when the car would arrive. I have however found a lot of first-time buyers eager to get the Swift soon. They will find workarounds through "contacts" and jugaad like another member mentioned now, and accelerate the delivery period. So while the waiting periods are there on the charts, what actually goes on behind the scenes leaves a bitter after-taste. Dealers do a lot of mischief behind the scenes and play around with allotments and 'priority numbers' to favour those with 'contacts' and 'ready cash' .

Most first time buyers who buy the Swift ignorantly buy it because some 'expert' would have suggested them to start out with Maruti brand (referring to easy maintenance) and not to try anything 'stupid'. In fact, with the aam junta, I have observed that having an i20 draws more premium status and respect than having a Swift. However, most of the average buyers want to stick to the tried and tested products in spite of ridiculous waiting periods, rather than taking risks and trying out other brands. I feel this is part of the reason why Hyundai and Maruti shine in these <10L segments, i20 and Swift being strong examples of that.

[nitinbose]

Its just that they wish to enter the market slowly after studying the initial sales. What's the use of manufacturing the vehicles and keeping in stock yard without enough buyers? If the year rolls over, these vehicles would belong to the previous year, loosing its value and the dealers / manufacturers would have to offer discounts which looses their credibility. Prospective buyers would develop a perception the model has failed/has problems/not success etc., further reducing the sales.

[anu21v]

Originally Posted by agspins

Dont know what these Dealers/manufacturers upto? Booked a Swift ZDI for a friend on Saturday and taking delivery on coming Thursday, reason for instant delivery, couple of Phone calls. Chart displays waiting period of 52 weeks for ZDI and 50 weeks for VDI.

Last year another friend picked up a VDI from another dealer, delivery within a week, only condition was get all the accessories from the dealer.
Same was the story with Verna SX (O), official waiting 6 months, with jugaad within a month.

Thats precisely my point my friend in my earlier post in the thread. Those Waiting period of 52 weeks are clearly fake and are well managed. A company who is sitting for almost 1.5 Lakh inventory and a good portion of those in diesel cars can not have such a long waiting period. The waiting period is clearly a fake and stage managed. Let me assure you maruti dealers and other sales staffs are master of stage managing such things and clearly have become adept at it, I had tried once in past when old swift was running at 6 Month waiting period, after pressurizing enough one of the prominent NCR dealer agreed to get me my desired coloured Swift LXI (It wasn't diesel days yet) car in 15 days time. Eventually i did not buy that car though but i knew the waiting period is stage managed to keep going the customer attraction.

Anyone who wants an early delivery pressurizes the dealer enough and threatens to go to other brand, will get an early delivery, with or without contacts, Maruti or any other brand at these trying times.