With less than a week left for the revised GST slabs on automobiles to come into effect, carmakers are scrambling to push existing inventory by extending new GST equivalent benefits on current stock. The offers, a mix of official price reductions and bundled dealer discounts, have triggered what many insiders call a “panic sale” in the market.
The deals being rolled out cover everything from entry-level hatchbacks to high-end SUVs, with price cuts starting at around Rs 65,000 and running all the way up to Rs 30.4 lakh. In many cases, the final price being offered today is lower than what buyers are likely to pay once the revised GST actually kicks in on September 22.
Dealers under cess pressure
The move has become necessary because dealers are saddled with high-value cars attracting a heavy compensation cess, which remains stuck to the tune of Rs 2,500–3,500 crore. By aligning their current prices with the upcoming GST slabs, companies are offering dealers much-needed breathing space.
Mahindra & Mahindra was among the first to act, rolling out benefits from September 6. The company priced the diesel variant of its XUV3XO at Rs 1.56 lakh lower, while leaving additional room for dealer-level offers. Luxury brands, however, are where the stakes are higher. A dealer said that a car priced at Rs 1.25 crore typically leaves a 5–6% margin for the dealer, amounting to about Rs 5–6 lakh. Add in the manufacturer’s contribution of Rs 4 lakh, and the buyer effectively gets a Rs 10 lakh cushion.
For cars where higher cess applies, the squeeze is particularly painful. “It is not the small cars that are the concern, but high-cess models where the levy can range from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 15 lakh. Dealers are trying to offload these quickly, which explains the panic,” said a Volvo Cars dealer.
Luxury carmakers lead the charge
Global names are moving aggressively as well. Land Rover advanced its GST-linked benefits from September 22 to September 9, offering cuts of up to Rs 30.4 lakh. The Range Rover 4.4P LWB now costs Rs 4.25 crore against its earlier price tag of Rs 4.55 crore. Kia followed a similar playbook, announcing reductions on its full lineup from September 8 before shifting the effective date to September 12. Its Seltos SUV saw a price correction of Rs 75,372, which, combined with bundled dealer offers, brought total consumer benefits to as much as Rs 2.25 lakh.
Skoda too is making aggressive moves. Its Kodiaq SUV now comes with a GST-related cut of up to Rs 3.3 lakh and additional offers of up to Rs 2.5 lakh, giving buyers a total of Rs 5.8 lakh in savings. The Kushaq and Slavia models are also seeing benefits of up to Rs 3.21 lakh and Rs 1.83 lakh, respectively.
Industry executives admit that once one large brand opens the discount tap, others are compelled to follow. “There is a fire sale going on and the consumer is king right now,” said an executive from a major multinational dealership. “After September 22, discounts will taper off as inventories stabilise and demand sentiment improves,” said another senior industry executive.
