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New cars at used ones' rates!

Last updated on: August 13, 2007 11:58 IST

Dealers of leading car manufacturers, including Maruti Udyog, Hyundai, Ford, Fiat and Tata Motors, are tying up with used-car owners to liquidate old stocks of car models that have been phased out or replaced by upgraded models.

The popular models in the market include the Hyundai Sonata (replaced by the Embera in August 2005), the Maruti Baleno (replaced by the SX4 in December 2006) and the Hyundai Accent Viva (production of which has stopped), among others (see table).

Prices of premium models like the Honda Accord and the Toyota Corolla were also expected to fall once the company launched upgrades, people in the know said.

"I have been contacted by car company dealers across the country to help dispose of their line of stock generated ever since car manufacturers phased out the older models.

The dealers are ready to offer huge discounts for the vehicles," confirmed Aarif Fazulbhoy, director, Fazulbhoy Motors, one of the largest car dealers in the city.

Due to restrictions imposed by car makers, dealers cannot advertise on their own for either discount offers or freebies on phased-out models that are hard to sell. The dealers then have no option but to sell these models through used-car outlets.

'Old' models get new discount:

Car names

Replaced by

Dealer price
(Rs lakh

Discounted price
(Rs lakh)

Discount in
% (approx)

Hyundai Sonata 

Embera

15

11-12

27

Ford Ikon 1.6 

Prodn halted

6.3

5

23

Maruti Baleno

SX4

8

5.5

31

Maruti Vitara

New Model

14

10-11

29

Opel Corsa Sail 

Phased out

5

3.5

30

Hyundai Elantra 

New model due

11

9

18

Mitsubishi Lancer*

Cedia

8.5-9

5-6

41

Fiat Palio

Palio Stile

4.5-5

2.8-3

38

Hyundai Viva

Phased out

6.75-7

4.5-5

33

Tata Indica

Indica Xeta

4-4.3

3

30

*Although the company still makes the old Lancer, the Lancer Cedia
has dented sales of the older model

 "Offers start to come in from all over the country as soon as a car maker launches an upgraded version of a model," said another reputed used car dealer. Such used car dealers generally get offers from cities like Delhi, Lucknow, Bangalore, Pune, Ahmedabad, and states like Rajasthan and Haryana.

Generally, the commission charged by a used-car dealer varies between 10 and 15 per cent of the total cost of the car.

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