Maruti cartel ? !!! -- Is it true ?

[meerkat]

Well, here is the story :

I'm in the market for a Baleno. Have taken test drives,
talked to various dealers, and am now ready to close
a deal. Now, for the last few days every single dealer
in Bangalore I talked to gave me this story: not a
single rupee more could be offered (to people not eligible
for a corporate discount) towards cash discount beyond the
advertised Maruti offer cash equivalent of Rs. 45k. Why ?
Because Maruti had told them so! And they are enforcing it
by penalizing errant dealers lakhs of rupees ! All the dealers
are willing to offer now are 45k + some basic accessories
(mats and such, worth very little) + may be some little amount
through marginally better finance deals. One dealer even
went back on his cash discount quotation given to me
just a week or so back, pleading helplessness ! One of my
friends had purchased the same model in January (when
the Maruti newspaper ads had the same offer running).
at a much better cash discount from the same dealer.

I was quite surprised that Maruti could try to enforce
something like this. How could they dictate what fraction
of their own margin the dealers could pass on to their
customers ? What are they going to gain out of all this ?
One dealer even said the sales have dropped in the last
few days to far below what it was just a few days back !

Could this all be true, or am I being taken for a ride ?
Then how come all the dealers are saying the same thing ?

[lamborghini]

Well dude,
it could be,
all the dealers here too have the same price and arent giving anything.
So just go and find a dealer who you like and pick up the car from there.

[simran]

I got the same feedback from the Maruti dealers in Pune. Seems Maruti charges the dealer Rs. 70000 if any 'deal' has been offered. This may be due to the fact that Maruti has many dealers in a city and these are segregated based on certain criteria. What the Dealers may be diong is cannibalising the sales of another Maruti dealer by offering 'deals' and therefore the step to ensure that other dealers don't lose out.

The dealer whose sales have lost out may have been the more aggressive kinds methinks.

[LLL]

well its sad for the consumers. I think Maruti is starting a dangerous trend by consolidating its delaers and implementing uniform rules.

They are taking away competition between the dealers. If all the dealers offer same price, then people will just start going the closest dealer. It will not leave any incentive for the better dealers to offer good sales service.

Pukistan is an example in this case. Dealers and car companies there charge a heavy premium on the price of the cars as they have created a cartel. The companies are Hyundai and Suzuki...