After launching car subscription services in Delhi-NCR, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Pune, India’s largest carmaker has brought the service to Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar.
The service will cost around Rs 14,690 per month in Gujarat for a Swift LXi for a four-year contract, excluding GST. In Chennai, it will cost Rs 15,196 per month and in Mumbai, it will cost Rs 15,368 per month.
Excluding GST, the monthly payments work out to be about Rs 500 less than the EMI that someone would have to pay for buying this car on a four-year auto loan. A four-year auto loan for Rs 6.10 lakh — the on-road price of the Swift LXi in Mumbai — works out to a monthly payment of Rs 15,618.
However, when combined with GST, the payments are likely to be higher than the EMI on a loan.
On the positive side, a subscription user does not have to worry about maintenance expenses, insurance charges and so on, but only has to worry about the fuel cost. The service also includes free 24×7 roadside assistance.
Altogether, the user stands to save around Rs 2 lakhs by way of various such expenses over the four-year period — especially if he is a heavy user.
On the downside, he won’t be able to sell the car at the end of the four years and pocket the money, as the car will be in the company’s name even after paying monthly rentals for four years.
Maruti Suzuki has partnered with ORIX Auto Infrastructure Services India, a subsidiary of ORIX Corporation, Japan to introduce the service.
Besides Swift, users can also opt for Dzire, Vitara Brezza, Ertiga, Baleno, Ciaz, and XL6.
Maruti Suzuki Subscribe offers the car in white number plate (registered in the name of customer) in the new cities, it added.
Shashank Srivastava, Executive Director (Marketing and Sales) Maruti Suzuki India Limited, said his company received over 6,600 enquiries in the first few months of pilot launch.
“We are aiming to introduce the Maruti Suzuki Subscribe program in 40-60 cities over a period of 2 to 3 years,” he added.
Sandeep Gambhir, MD and CEO ORIX India also said the service is gaining “a lot of momentum”, going by initial trends.
“We are confident that with the flexibility Subscription provides to customers, in addition to convenience and a hassle free experience, it will surely find a lot of takers in the post pandemic fast changing world of mobility,” he said.
The new service is an attempt by the company to cater to the new generation, which does not want to be tied down to any one thing, but prefers to keep its options open at all times.
Under the program, users can also swap their vehicles with new models after a year or two, as and when new models become available. However, shorter duration contracts come with higher monthly rentals.