Car, bike makers jump on the GOSF bandwagon

Offer discounts and benefits ranging from Rs 30,000 to Rs 142,000

Unable to resist the online shopping frenzy sweeping the country, car and two-wheeler makers have jumped onto Google’s three-day Great Online Shopping Festival (GOSF) offering a bevy of benefits and cash discounts.

At least nine car makers, including leading companies like Mahindra & Mahindra and premium brands like Volkswagen and Nissan, are offering discounts and other consumer benefits ranging from Rs 30,000 to Rs 142,000 through GOSF.

The companies came aboard on the second day of GOSF after missing the first day.

While some companies like Ford India have limited its online offer only for the duration of the e-sale,  others like M&M have extended their 24-day offline discount scheme to the GOSF to maximise consumer reach.  Ford India also demands consumers take the delivery of the vehicle before December 31.

As a result, a diesel engine powered Renault Pulse, comes with a consumer benefit scheme of Rs 1,42,000, valid on bookings and deliveries made by December 20. The company’s top-selling sports utility vehicle (SUV) Duster is also being offered at similar discounts on diesel variants through GOSF.

Through the tie-up with Google, consumers are directly led to the vehicle manufacturer’s website where they can get details of the discounts and benefits on offer and city-wise price data. Car makers are expecting the last day of GOSF to bring in more users to rev up the lacklustre year.

For instance, the passenger vehicle segment saw a dip of eight per cent in October despite massive discounts which continued in November too. The segment saw a growth of under three per cent in the April-November period.  While the two-wheeler sector has not been as badly impacted as the car and SUV segment, they don’t want to be left behind in this shopping mania.

M&M’s two-wheeler arm, Mahindra Two Wheeler, is offering cash-back of up to Rs 5,000 on the motorcycle Centuro and Rs 1,000 on the 125cc Rodeo Uzo scooter. Other discount offering websites like Shopclues offer direct discounts of Rs 2,000 on the M&M scooter.

India’s largest two-wheeler producer, Hero MotorCorp, has jumped on the bandwagon,too,  allowing bookings of all its products through online retailer Snapdeal. A flat discount of Rs 1,000 can be had on Hero motorcycles and scooters. Even the country’s biggest selling bike, Splendor, is a part of the discount table, while its in-demand Maestro scooter  is missing from the list.