Sluggish demand and intense competition have forced automakers to extend discounts on car purchases to put up decent sales figures for the financial year ending 31 March, 2015.

As of now, car companies are extending discounts on as many as 144 models; only six models are selling at ex-showroom price.

Honda City, Maruti DZire, Hyundai's i20 Elite, Ford EcoSport, Skoda Octavia and Volkswagen Jetta are the only models being sold without discount. Sales of other models are being pushed by offering discounts, exchange or loyalty bonuses, or heavy deals on accessories.

Some of the car discounts in March 2015:

Model

Cash discount

Exchange bonus

Loyalty bonus

Corporate discount

Others

Total Discount

Chevrolet Sail hatchback

  Rs 41,000

Rs 20,000

Rs 20,000

Rs 3,000

-

Rs 84,000

Maruti Ritz

Rs 40,000

Rs 35,000

-

-

-

Rs 75,000

Chevrolet Sail and Cruze

Rs 49,000

Rs 20,000

Rs 20,000

Rs 5,000

-

Rs 94,000

Volkswagen Polo

 -

 Rs 20,000

 

-

 

-

Rs 30,000 (free insurance)

 

-

BMW 7-series

-

-

-

-

-

Rs 6 lakh

Audi A6

Rs 5 lakh

-

-

-

-

-

Renault Fluence

Rs 1 lakh

-

-

-

-

-

Renault Duster

Rs 75,000

-

-

-

-

-

Source: Autocar India

"There has been a consistent slowdown with only three top carmakers able to manage positive sales in the current fiscal. March is proving to be tough — retail sales are not picking up as corporate spend has dried up," says Rakesh Srivastava, senior VP, marketing and sales, at Hyundai Motors, to The Economic Times.

Even dominant player Maruti Suzuki is facing difficulties due to slowing demand, with almost all of its models priced at a discount of 15 percent to on-road price, excluding newly-launched DZire.

"Market conditions are tough. Discounts have peaked as retail sales haven't picked up on a lacklustre Budget for the industry, and we are battling to beat last year's sales to remain positive on the sales chart," said Maruti Suzuki executive director for (marketing & sales) RS Kalsi.

Manufacturers are hesitant to rollback the discounts, as they see the industry losing steam despite showing some pick up last year. The top two carmakers, Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motor registered single-digit growth in February owing to the lacklustre demand.

 "The intensified competition has forced manufacturers to maximise the discounts. It's a virtual situation in auto industry outlining survival of the fittest. Except for the new nameplates that command some value proposition, most of the cars are going with discount benefits to increase sales in the fag end of the fiscal," Amit Kaushik, Principal Analyst for Auto at IHS Automotive said.