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Old 13th January 2010, 14:03   #16
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Originally Posted by gomzi View Post
Especially without the maintenance plan and now this price hike, buyers might lean towards Maruti and Hyundai products due to perceived easy maintenance of cars from these companies.
That is a perception I feel. But to me it seems not so.

Probably easy maintenance since maruti has more A.S.S. But definitely not cheaper to own. The normal service costs on my Swift compared to my Civic is more than double.

Data -
Civic till 40K costs for service - 14k
Swift Vxi till 25k costs for service - 18K

Last edited by laluks : 13th January 2010 at 14:15.
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Old 13th January 2010, 15:22   #17
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Originally Posted by laluks View Post
Probably easy maintenance since maruti has more A.S.S. But definitely not cheaper to own. The normal service costs on my Swift compared to my Civic is more than double.
Yup, its only a perception. I can vouch for it with my own experience with a Wagon-R. A good network of A.S.S does not necessarily mean good quality service or cheap service. YMMV.

Sorry for going OT.
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Old 13th January 2010, 17:34   #18
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Another theory could be that they are phasing out the 1 litre Spark and bringing in the 800 cc Spark with further price cuts. We may see a stripped down the Beat with the 1 litre engine to battle the base i10 version.
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Old 13th January 2010, 18:06   #19
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Originally Posted by SPARKled View Post
Another theory could be that they are phasing out the 1 litre Spark and bringing in the 800 cc Spark with further price cuts. We may see a stripped down the Beat with the 1 litre engine to battle the base i10 version.
Yes, there is a possibility of a 800cc spark priced to compete with Alto or at the previous (Dec 09) price range.

Even with 1.2L engine Beat is puny at high rpms (As per Team-bhp report). So I don't see the possibility for a stripped down version of Beat.
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Old 14th January 2010, 15:28   #20
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Taking the price of the Spark higher only takes it closer to the well-priced Beat. I doubt it. And anyways, the cheaper 800cc Spark is rumoured to arrive very soon.

Quote:
We may see a stripped down the Beat with the 1 litre engine to battle the base i10 version.
No chance of that happening at the moment.
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Old 14th January 2010, 17:41   #21
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oh pheww, i thought they increased the price of beat!
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Old 14th January 2010, 21:27   #22
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Originally Posted by sunil8089 View Post
Maruti – Even though Maruti was almost skimming the market in B segment all these years, today they have an aggressive pricing strategy. They are planning to reduce the price for many of their models like Alto, Swift and Wagon R. Already they slashed the prices for Estillo. Then in pricing aspect, Spark is losing its credibility and has to compete directly with cars like Wagon R, Estillo, Alto and Swift.
Not accurate- Maruti Suzuki is not planning to reduce prices, in fact they are planning to increase prices. This is already being discussed in a separate thread. Raw material prices are increasing, so GM or Maruti cannot behave like oil marketing PSUs and sell cheap!

Most companies review/ reduce discounts periodically - especially in a new year. We should not take discounts for granted.

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Originally Posted by sidindica View Post
The thread title is misleading. the price has not been increased, but the discounts reduced.

The latest price list retails spark with AC at 3,09,000 ex-showroom Delhi, less discount of 27K retails at 2,82,000. So can the title be edited?
I agree, title of the thread needs to change to something like "..GM reduces discounts.."
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Old 15th January 2010, 00:02   #23
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Originally Posted by SunilM View Post
I agree, title of the thread needs to change to something like "..GM reduces discounts.."
Thanks Sunil & Sid, for the feedback. But from a customer perspective there is no difference between hiking the price and reducing the discounts. In both cases it is an additional cash outflow.

Even today, the discounts highlighted by GM is only a marketing gimmick.
In 2007 April, when Spark was launched they charged a premium and the sales didn't catch up as expected. By understating the price sensitiveness of Indian Market, they repriced the product and marketed it as discounts (especially a massive discount of Rs.57,000.00 from 2007 Deepawali onwards).

It is a careful and shrewd marketing strategy adopted by GM and effectively addressed the following factors:
  • Credibility : Repricing (especially reduction) of a product, within few months of its launch will cause the erosion of credibility of the Company as well as the brand. But a discount rarely affect the credibility. (Case : Daewoo Cielo)
  • Greed factor: GM well understood that they can effectively use the 'greed' factor of the customers for improving sales - by offering discounts, than repricing. The fear of loss always boosted he sales.
  • Goodwill : People started believing that the company is doing a favor by offering a lesser price and this improved the brand advocacy than a regularly priced product. Thus the car got positioned as a VFM product compared to the competitors.
  • Pricing Flexibility: Discounts are subjected to the mercy of the producer /seller and they can conveniently change or remove at any point of time. So reduction / removal of discount is treated as a 'right of the company' by 'customers and have only lesser impacts. (same is happening now)
  • Aftermarket Value : In aftermarket the depreciated price of the car is generally calculated from the list price and sales discounts are rarely shown and considered. So for the customers, especially people who paid premium price without discounts get better value with a higher list price.
So they always highlighted Spark's price as discounted price from 2007. At the same time the customers paid higher tax and insurance rates which is calculated based on the list price.

You may call it as price hike or reduction in discounts. But remember, a hike is a hike is a hike and the new customers have to pay the price.

Last edited by sunil8089 : 15th January 2010 at 00:18.
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Old 23rd January 2010, 07:10   #24
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How many of you bought a new Spark in 2010 January?
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Old 23rd January 2010, 09:34   #25
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Originally Posted by sunil8089 View Post
How many of you bought a new Spark in 2010 January?
I booked my Spark LS last week, would probably be taking the delivery by end of next week (29-Jan-09)
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Old 23rd January 2010, 12:52   #26
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At Hyderabad the decrease in discounts is Rs. 10000 and not Rs. 20000. Previously the base version was 2.73 lakhs and now it is 2.83 lakhs. Free 3 year maintenance offer and corporate discounts are also offered.
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Old 23rd January 2010, 15:33   #27
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At Hyderabad the decrease in discounts is Rs. 10000 and not Rs. 20000. Previously the base version was 2.73 lakhs and now it is 2.83 lakhs. Free 3 year maintenance offer and corporate discounts are also offered.
I booked a Spark LS. Total discounts offered were 37000 (Consumer discount) and about 5000 (Corp Disc). The total was 3.57L OTR - Hyd. No more goodies, not even floor mats and mud flaps.

The above quote was from Orange Auto. Kun Chevrolet gave a price of 3.65L OTR, for the same version. Additional accessories - matting and mudflaps.

I think the prices quoted for me were for '09 models. Do I lose on anything if I take a '09 model instead of a '10 model? Can anybody throw some light on the cons?
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Old 24th January 2010, 01:49   #28
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Originally Posted by eagle_bush View Post
Do I lose on anything if I take a '09 model instead of a '10 model? Can anybody throw some light on the cons?
In new Spark, GM upgraded the dashboard where all the warning lights (which was behind the steering wheel) got integrated to the central console. Also they added a digital tachometer, digital temperature gauge and digital clock. The display looks really good and available with all versions of Spark.

Please check whether you are getting all these features, before the car is registered in your name.
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Old 24th January 2010, 08:34   #29
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sunil8089 View Post
In new Spark, GM upgraded the dashboard where all the warning lights (which was behind the steering wheel) got integrated to the central console. Also they added a digital tachometer, digital temperature gauge and digital clock. The display looks really good and available with all versions of Spark.

Please check whether you are getting all these features, before the car is registered in your name.
Sunil, I think all these features are there in the 2009 Spark model also , as I too had booked spark LT in 2009 december and took the delivery on 7th Jan 2009 and as you mentioned above about the features, I got everything integrated in central console
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Old 24th January 2010, 15:08   #30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sunil8089 View Post
In new Spark, GM upgraded the dashboard where all the warning lights (which was behind the steering wheel) got integrated to the central console. Also they added a digital tachometer, digital temperature gauge and digital clock. The display looks really good and available with all versions of Spark.

Please check whether you are getting all these features, before the car is registered in your name.
Can anyone post pics of the interiors of the new Spark Interiors? There is no vehicle currently available at the showroom for me to have a look.
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