[autoenthusiast]

Originally Posted by CBlazer

Honda wouldn't normally do this unless they are seriously concerned about something. Is it competition? I would say, don't rush in to book a City. You have more choices than in 2003/04. Just wait till Nov/Dec - you might probably see what's scaring Honda!

CBlazer, Spot On, yes it looks like you have a point. Maybe Honda is shaken up by the impending Linea launch ? It does look like they are trying to stall people from booking other cars that may launch before them.

[amit27]

Honda is trying to soak up the demand for such a car in the market by asking for booking deposit . Even SX4 had a 6 month when launched now it is available for a discount. Same thing will happen to A Star also it is price one pays for exclusivity for first 3-6 months nothing wrong ethically or commercial . there are enough choices in the market .

[romeomidhun]

Originally Posted by amit

If it wasn't for the diesel, Fiesta and Verna would have been wiped out by now and if the SX4 didn't have the tag of Maruti-Suzuki on it's backside, it would have met the same fate by now.

Hey, what's this man! You are removing all goodies from all other cars except Honda City, and saying City is the best! So, what if you remove the Honda tag from City? Or if it was a Premier City? Will it still be acceptable as it is of now? Please, don't be blind like this...

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by CBlazer

Just wait till Nov/Dec - you might probably see what's scaring Honda!

Possibly the SX4-Diesel ?

And a slightly lower priced Octavia with low powered engine options?

[lancer_rit]

Originally Posted by shuvc

Possibly the SX4-Diesel ?

And a slightly lower priced Octavia with low powered engine options?

As per ACI, Skoda will launch lower cc petrol and diesel engines for Octavia (timeframe not clear), and reduce Octavia prices.

[libocta]

Originally Posted by JRD

............
As per the dealers demanding Rs. 1,00,000 as booking without even having a demo car to even look at goes to say that the dealers are exploiting the trust (or mistrust if thats a word) that people have in the Honda brand.

.................
Cheers
JRD.

to give another example of how dealers trying to take advantage of situation, one of the Honda dealers (mumbai) told him that it is mandatory to purchase accessories worth 20k with the car!!!
seemed like another way to black market a new hot car to me...

[Max]

My NHC have average maintenace bill of about Rs.600 (except oil change) whenever it goes for service at my local car repair shop. IMO, our local car garage is very nice and they have first hand experience with all cars (they are authorized car service for maruti and at any time have about 40 cars standing in for service/repairs).

[autoenthusiast]

Jeez, called Deccan Honda in Pune and spoke to the sales guy. They expect the display car to be available my Oct 15 - Oct 20th. A demo piece somewhere around then itself. They also claim that they would only have the S-MT available for trial drives and not the S-AT. He however did state that he'll confirm this after speaking to his boss.
I also asked the sales person to find out exact delivery dates incase the booking is done now. One other thing is that they wanted a booking amount of Rs. 1,00,000 upfront, I asked them to check if 50,000k is possible since that's the trend across other dealerships. He's supposed to check and call me back later today.

[jerish666]

Originally Posted by autoenthusiast

Jeez, called Deccan Honda in Pune and spoke to the sales guy. They expect the display car to be available my Oct 15 - Oct 20th. A demo piece somewhere around then itself. They also claim that they would only have the S-MT available for trial drives and not the S-AT. He however did state that he'll confirm this after speaking to his boss.
I also asked the sales person to find out exact delivery dates incase the booking is done now. One other thing is that they wanted a booking amount of Rs. 1,00,000 upfront, I asked them to check if 50,000k is possible since that's the trend across other dealerships. He's supposed to check and call me back later today.

Its the same here in Trivandrum also.Here the waiting period is 3 months that means on december only they start delivering the cars.They will get the TD cars only by november last.

[sam003]

Just got call from RRH NCR, they said Car will on display around 15th Oct and S model on road price is 8,83,000/- and booking amount is Rs 50,000/- and NO CORPORATE DISCOUNTS . Delievery will start in Second week of Nov.

[autoenthusiast]

Originally Posted by jerish666

Its the same here in Trivandrum also.Here the waiting period is 3 months that means on december only they start delivering the cars.They will get the TD cars only by november last.

Yes and somehow you don't get confidence to book a vehicle without a test drive. I'm getting a bit annoyed at Honda, looks like they are trying to get market share prior to the Linea being launched. I'll call the FIAT sales person and check if they know the approx dates for the Linea and guess it's worth a wait.

Somehow I wanted to have my new vehicle by the first week of December since I always drive down to Goa for a month from Mid December.

[filcord]

This thread has started to branch out into many different directions and I hope I'm not being OT replying to them all.

On service costs - I think it's only proper if Honda owners put in posts detailing their own experiences, people who have no direct knowledge of Honda service need not mouth off. In my personal experience with Ford, the dealer here in Goa had a very lackadaisical attitude, and invariably ended up padding the bill with replacements of various parts. Also I had to take the car back for some unfinished job almost every service. One thing that makes me wary, in Goa, the same people who are Ford dealers are also Honda dealers, and there is no other choice .

On the marketing tactics - hats off to Honda for generating so much interest with a launch of a car that is not even there in the showroom to gawk at. It's a tribute to their brand image, and image does not come without some basis in people's good experiences with the brand. Of course dealers who are taking deposits are doing serious harm to the corporate image (and taking further liquidity out of the market!)

[SkyWalker]

Originally Posted by amit

Seems like Honda has done a soft launch of the car.

Remember, on another thread when someone said that Fiat was going to do a soft launch of the Linea in Delhi with deliveries slated to start after two months, everyone went ballastic on that theory. Somehow, people don't have problem this time round!

to be frank, i don't understand what is the problem with a soft launch. Would everyone be rather happy if Honda kept tight lipped about it until Nov and then release it?

A soft launch helps people know things in advance. in fact if all car makers want to soft launch all products until Dec 09 now, i will only be too happy

[amit]

Originally Posted by SkyWalker

to be frank, i don't understand what is the problem with a soft launch. Would everyone be rather happy if Honda kept tight lipped about it until Nov and then release it?

A soft launch helps people know things in advance. in fact if all car makers want to soft launch all products until Dec 09 now, i will only be too happy

I don't see a problem with soft launches either but maybe you should go through the Fiat Linea thread to understand the double standards.

[sridharps]

Originally Posted by JRD

As per the dealers demanding Rs. 1,00,000 as booking without even having a demo car to even look at goes to say that the dealers are exploiting the trust (or mistrust if thats a word) that people have in the Honda brand.
.

It is quite surprising how many people are falling over themselves to pay this money without even looking at the car or a test drive or even a brochure. Till such time people wake up, the Honda dealerships will continue to maintain their arrogant attitude.