[Surprise]

I wanted to buy a Vento, the car I liked in all aspects, but decided against it because of the waiting period coupled with dealer horror stories on inconsistent delivery. 6-8 months of waiting period is just too much for me. Especially when you don't have a reliable vehicle that can take care of your day to day or long trip requirements.

[Fillmore]

Originally Posted by onesomeone

That move will be opportunist and would equate to fleecing the customers..have to disagree with your views

Well he does have a point here.

Have 2 supply chains.

1. Regular booking -> wait period depending on demand

2. Tatkal scheme -> Willing to pay 75k for Tatkal then you get the vehicle in 10 days

( Of course a fixed quota needs to be maintained for Tatkal not to exceed maybe 15% of the entire manufacturing capacity.
10 days because you get to pick and choose your color and trim and do not have to take what is available.)

[xingamazon]

Slightly off-topic:
Maruti currently has around 45% of market share of all vehicle lines put together.
I am always a believer that if they are able to get vehicles waiting time to off-the-shelf their market share could quite increase to 55-60% even.
Many of the Korean and American brands are just banking on the long waiting period of Maruti.

According to me any customer who pays a hell lot of money for a car doesnt deserve to be waiting for it.

[kadanaJ]

Originally Posted by Fillmore

Well he does have a point here.

Have 2 supply chains.

1. Regular booking -> wait period depending on demand

2. Tatkal scheme -> Willing to pay 75k for Tatkal then you get the vehicle in 10 days

( Of course a fixed quota needs to be maintained for Tatkal not to exceed maybe 15% of the entire manufacturing capacity.
10 days because you get to pick and choose your color and trim and do not have to take what is available.)

Pros:
Manufacturers can make extra profit by officially charging 'tatkal', rather than the current scenario where people bribe dealers and get no guarantee
Those who want (or need) the car urgently can pay extra for it

Cons:
I imagine the ordinary people who don't want / can't afford to pay tatkal would be highly pissed off if their delivery's ended up getting delayed for someone who paid the extra 75k


I think if further refined, this could be a brilliant idea

[AVR]

My patience with booking is nil. If i decide i want something i want it now. And i want it delivered! Too mad to wait for a car after having put together the money for it. I hope the Storme doesn't make me wait once i decide to buy it!

[girishglg]

Great topic to think about aloud. It defies ones absolute logic as to how people tend to wait for over half a year sometimes for cars as mundane as as a Dzire.

One would wait for such a time only for a exclusive set of wheels such as a Rolls or a Ferrari! Though many of the alternatives may not be a exact replacement but they represent same segment and price / power range and would fit the bill as closely as possible.

But if one thinks hard there are many alternatives for buyers of cars that have a long waiting period such as-
Figo for Beat
Vista for Swift
Etios for Dzire
Scorpio for Duster

[sureshurs]

In general 4-6 weeks waiting period is fine as one can get the loan processing done with banks. I find the lottery system as weird idea as one does not know when he would get the vehicle at the time of booking.

[onesomeone]

Originally Posted by Fillmore

Well he does have a point here.

Have 2 supply chains.

1. Regular booking -> wait period depending on demand

2. Tatkal scheme -> Willing to pay 75k for Tatkal then you get the vehicle in 10 days

( Of course a fixed quota needs to be maintained for Tatkal not to exceed maybe 15% of the entire manufacturing capacity.
10 days because you get to pick and choose your color and trim and do not have to take what is available.)

Hmm interesting point of view, but how will a customer know that manufacturers would stick to 15%? Moreover if you are equating to Indian Railways model, remember they have a monopoly and travellers especially long distance ones have limited choice but to pay for tatkal. In my opinion if manufacturers resort to such a model not only will they loose customer faith but also might be a good candidate for trade practices scrutiny. Having said that loosing faith in a brand often takes years to repair and at times become irrepairable and not to forget there are competitors waiting to eat the pie..

[swiftnfurious]

In my case, I was initially told a waiting period of 45 days for my Swft VDi ABS back in 2008. I was OK upto 60 days, but things didnt work out till I shook up the regional office rather violently & delivery happening on the 124th day or so!

For me, I had no good alternative at that time for an ABS equipped diesel hatch back with just two options Getz CRDi & Indica Vista that time. If I was in the market today, I would have gone with the next best option with lowest waiting period, most probaly a Figo or Liva to name.

The same way if I am in the market to buy a 10L SUV, I don't think I have a choice but to wait for either Storme / Duster [my preference] with those insane wait periods. But am sure things will be lot different in the next 2 years.

[vinmechanic]

As usual, you have started intersting logical thread in the forum.

I would not wait for more than a week for my new car/bike. I remember the times back in 2003 when I booked newly launched P-150. Dealer promised to deliver within 10 days but made me wait for five more days. I had sleepless nights waiting for my first bike ever.

For Cars like Swift Diesel, Ertiga In some situations you absolutely have no practical alternative to go with. But again waiting for car for more than a six month doesn't makes any sense for me.



+1 to what GTO Mentioned . No manufacturer would like to add Inventory Carrying cost for the Purchased/Finished raw materials to its final product if demand goes down. I worked as buyer for gear box assembly unit and I know the pain to convince supplier for those additional 100 nos at the peak demands.
In other way, I have also faced rude behaviour from supplier when low volumes are offered when they already have good business from competitor.

[akhil_rpmlover]

Seems like I'm the only one who put down 6-12months. Well, as GTO said, I really am ready to wait a bit longer if the product be it a car or a bike is something we desire most. We too keep our cars for a long period of over 7 years. So, no point in rushing. Even if it takes an year of waiting, it will give you a smile on your face for the next long 7+ years of ownership. That's what my theory is.

Choosing the alternatives is not a good idea IMO. Maybe, it will be good in terms of economics, like the fact that value of today's money is higher than tomorrow's. Consider you choose an alternative. It might be economically good but the sense that you never bought the car you wanted, every time you see it , is bad, at-least for me. Go with your heart.

For instance, we bought Jazz recently and we booked two weeks after the facelift was launched with a shocking price drop. Our position was 12/13 at our dealer( Trivandrum and Kerala being a diesel territory) and was promised delivery by November. We had no problems considering the fact that we have our good old Alto to do the daily running. But, October brought the bad news of flood in Thailand and our SA said, wait till January. We were reluctant initially; but since everyone at family liked the Jazz so much, we thought of waiting. But, it got delayed further.In the meantime, the budget '12 was announced and no diesel cars' taxes were increased. Many still said cancel and go for Swift Zdi. But, we waited patiently and finally got delivery in April. Possibly a very long wait. Many asked us why we waited this long, that too for a petrol car? But, I can tell you one thing. She's worth the wait and we have no regrets in waiting this much. I feel very happy that we didnt jumped over to other alternatives.

[KiloAlpha]

I am normally OK waiting for up to 8 weeks for a new car - only if it is a hot, in-demand model. All others, in my opinion, should be available within a week or so.

In general, I think the real problem with car manufacturers and dealers is their lack of honesty and transparency when dealing with very high demand. Even if waiting time is 6 months, dealer is up-front about it, and actually delivers in 6 months, customer can make a choice and live with it. Lack of transparency in booking/waiting time leads to a lot of frustrated customers, and can damage the brand - unless your name is Maruti Suzuki, of course!!

[engrohit]

Well I booked my duster on 12th July and had it delivered on 27th Sept, exact 2.5 months. The dealer had upfront told me min 2 months so not a big concern there. Also I felt I would be fine till maybe 3 months, but to tell you the truth, I got hugely impatient once I started seeing the car on road. After this experience I feel, the max waiting that anyone should be put through is 2 months.

[S2!!!]

Originally Posted by girishglg

Great topic to think about aloud. It defies ones absolute logic as to how people tend to wait for over half a year sometimes for cars as mundane as as a Dzire.

One would wait for such a time only for a exclusive set of wheels such as a Rolls or a Ferrari!

I do understand that if you are ordering an exclusive, custom made piece of machinery the waiting periods may rightly be pushed to several months as the manufacturer has to produce a tailor-made vehicle but waiting for months for a car which every third person on the road drives is something beyond my level of understanding. On another thread I had a member debating that the product is that good and it gives that satisfaction and blah blah but honestly I disagree. I would just look at the next best option or postpone my purchase till the time the car is readily available. I am sure the same car wouldn't interest me after a while if I have delayed my purchase decision.

The whole enthusiasm and excitement dies out after a certain period of waiting for the delivery of a new car. What is the point of test driving and booking a car today because one really likes it today and he gets the delivery after 6 months when his tastes and needs have changed. Probably he would look back and ask himself- "I waited all this long for this?? Why??"

Also the demand is clearly focussed on the diesel vehicles which is ridiculous in cases where those whose running may not exceed 10k kms/ year are still willing to plonk an excess of 1.5 lakh over the petrol counterparts just to spend less on fuel every time they enter a fuel station. Most people never bother calculating their running: saving but just go with the herd and buy a diesel since it is Rs.22 odd cheaper than petrol/ litre.

[nkrishnap]

I simply cant stand the waiting period. The max I could wait is 3-4 weeks.

Interestingly the manufacturer needs to stock sufficient number of vehicles to ensure there is no or very little waiting period.

Why 3-4 weeks wait for me, in case the dealer does not have the color or variant in stock. The transit does take a bit time which I am OK with.