‘Best Time to Put India on Wheels’: Maruti’s Partho Banerjee on Price Reductions Beyond GST Cuts

Maruti Suzuki India expects the recent GST rate cut on automobiles to trigger a fresh wave of car ownership in the country, with entry-level vehicles becoming substantially more affordable. The company believes this reform, combined with supportive economic measures, could unlock India’s next phase of motorisation. Entry-level cars see reductions of up to ₹1.29 lakh as the automaker passes on benefits to customers.

Among the models, the S-Presso received the highest price reduction of up to ₹1,29,600, bringing its starting price to ₹3,49,900. The Alto K10 follows with a cut of up to ₹1,07,600, now starting at ₹3,69,900. Other entry hatchbacks such as the Celerio, Wagon-R, and Ignis have seen reductions between ₹71,300 and ₹94,100. This move will significantly boost affordability and could unlock pent-up demand, especially in the entry-level market where sales had slowed in recent months.

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“Only 34 people out of 1,000 Indians own their car today. Maruti Suzuki, being the market leader, strongly feels that this is the time now we need to come up with some offerings to upgrade the two-wheeler customers to four-wheelers,” said Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing & Sales, Maruti Suzuki India Limited.

Banerjee noted that the biggest barrier to entry-level car ownership had been affordability, which was hit by regulatory costs and higher EMIs. “One was the high car prices due to implementation of the emission and the regulatory norms. Second was, due to the high prices, the down payment was also increased, which was a challenge for the customer. Affordability was a challenge. And third, the EMI — high EMI is also basically a set-off of the high car prices,” he explained.

With this GST 2.0 revision, he added, there has been a very positive impact on car prices. “Other than the GST, we have further reduced the prices so as to make the car more affordable to the two-wheeler customers who want to upgrade to a four-wheeler. The price reduction is up to Rs. 1.29 lakh, which is almost a reduction of 12.6% to 24% across different variants,” Banerjee said.

Maruti Suzuki is also banking on macroeconomic factors to spur demand. “This year, in the Finance Bill, our Honourable Finance Minister has given a special rebate for income up to 11 lakh rupees, which will lead to higher disposable income in the hands of customers who are targeting to buy small cars,” Banerjee said. He added that monetary policy is also supportive. “The RBI Governor has already announced a record cut of 100 basis points, which is going to reflect in lower EMIs,” he added.

He said that the story of India is very powerful, at least for the next decade. “On top of it, there are three tailwinds: reduction in vehicle prices, affordability improving due to the rebate in income tax, and reduction in EMI due to the repo rate. So we feel that there can’t be any better time than to really go for motorisation in the Indian market,” he said.

Maruti Suzuki expects the market to regain momentum in the coming financial year. “In the next financial year, we feel that the market is going to bounce back to the earlier CAGR of 6–7%,” Banerjee said.