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We are going for an i20 Asta petrol from the 2013 manufactured stock. The last alphanumeric digit of the chassis number stamped below the driver's seat is L, which means it was manufactured in November - thanks to the superb VIN identification thread of Wildon!

I checked the car in the dealer's stockyard - thanks to the excellent PDI thread of normally_crazy and the eye-opening oldish new car thread of ajmat! I asked my dad to check the paintwork, while I inspected the hinges, rubber parts, engine bay, wheel wells etc. for tell-tale signs of aging and other effects as mentioned by our expert ajmat. I didn't drive the car, but had the SA start the engine and checked if there were any unusual noises or exhaust smoke. As far as an inexperienced guy like me could tell, there weren't any visible adverse effects on these parts. But the car is now three months old, and it was standing in the open stockyard of the dealer for most of this time. I pray that there are no hidden glitches and unexpected adverse effects.

The discounts come to 50k rupees, and the only freebies are mats and mudflaps. 15k is the regular discount on the 2014 made petrol cars (5k discount + 10k loyalty bonus). An exchange bonus (15k) and corporate discount (3k) are applicable in place of the loyalty bonus if we trade in our car. But since we already sold our Xeta to a private buyer, we are not eligible for this.

If one takes this into consideration, the discount for the 2013 made car is 35k rupees. We had the option of going for a 2014 MY Sportz variant (of our colour choice) with the regular 15k discount, or the 2013 MY Asta variant (in grey colour) for an additional 18k. The Asta has a few additional features, of which I value the passenger airbag, rear washer and wiper the most, and hence chose the 2013 made car.

The best and safest choice would have been the Asta(O) which comes with 6 airbags, but it is out of reach as it costs almost one lac rupees more and it has to be obtained from the factory, so no 2013 MY stock for the Asta(O). Our budget is already being stretched, so could not stretch it further. Twilight blue would have normally been the colour of choice, as blue is what we usually go for. In this instance, grey is the only colour available in the 2013 stock (the diesel model had blue and one other colour among the 2013 manufactured cars).

Is a discount of 50k rupees a fair deal for a November 2013 manufactured i20 Asta petrol? It works out to ~ 7.1 lac on-road in Chennai, with only mats and mud flaps as accessories.

I've read that the budget is scheduled for tomorrow. If the tax rates are changed, would we have to bear any increase, or get the benefit of any decrease in price?

Renault India has on their website offers worth 2L on outgoing fluence model.

The excise duty on sub-4 metre cars has been reduced to 8 per cent. It used to be 12 per cent earlier; this should translate into savings. The exact savings will be calculated and shared by the manufacturers.

Excise duty cut on mid-segment and bigger cars cut to 20 per cent.

Excise duty on SUVs cut from 30 per cent to 24 per cent.

All this makes for a positive outcome from the automobile industry.

There has been announcement of Reduction on small cars by 4% and SUV's by 6%.

Any update on the excise duty changes on regular sedans, I have missed ( if it happened) the same.

If yes, this could be a huge Interim year for the auto industry.

This has been cut from 27 per cent to 20 per cent. So, the maximum benefits will accrue to the potential sedan buyers, provided companies are transparent in passing the benefits to the buyers.

Sounds pretty good. IMO, they should pass the same considering the stock piling up at the showrooms.

Correct, but what happens to customers who are taking delivery this week? One of my friend is taking delivery of Swift this Friday. So, should I ask him to check with his dealer on the price reduction?

Simple, If his car has been manufactured, then excise is paid, do not know if MSIL will pass on savings to him.
However, if car is still to be manufactured, then he can get the excise reductions.

I believe Maruti has already announced that it will be passing the benefits to the customers. However, it remains to be seen if this revised pricing will apply to the cars that have already been invoiced to the dealers. In the event the manufacturers are unable to give benefits on the vehicles that have already been invoiced to the dealer, they will have to face a lot of cancellations.

It should come into effect for vehicles that are to be delivered, else, customers may just cancel a booking and re-book the same model to avail the lower prices.

The only caveat is that customers may resort to cancellations and fresh bookings to avail lower prices. I believe that cancellation charges on Maruti cars are one of the lowest in the industry and people would be happy throwing a grand in the gutter for the sake of saving 10 grands.

Quite true. I cancelled my new Dzire ZDi booking for merely 300 Rs. Refund took 15 days though.

Guys, there are no cancellation charges per se on any brand/manufacturer.

In case a dealer is charging anything at all even a measly Rupee, it is illegal. Stick to your guns and the cancellation charges will be dropped. It is just a ruse by the car dealers to make money out of thin air.

Our 2013 Asta was 6.75 OTR Ahmedabad. Not sure about the taxes in Chennai. As for the accessories, we got mud flaps, matting, car cover and the 3M coating - free of cost. There was also some promotional scheme (scratch card) at that time which came out to be Rs 1000, but since the Asta comes fully loaded I couldn't find a single accessory to my taste and needs that could be installed and that Rs. 1000 coupon was later gone to waste.

Good luck with your new purchase.

Most VW dealers in Delhi charge a Rs. 5,000/- cancellation fee; same is the case with Renault dealers. If this is not legal, companies must issue instructions to the dealers to ensure that such practices are brought to an end and customers are not taken for a ride by grumpy salesmen.

Thank you, 9thsphinx. Taxes in Chennai are on the higher side, and also there was a price increase of 15k or so in January. We had the option of choosing either a 2013 MY Asta for ~ 7.1 lac on-road, or a 2014 MY Sportz for 18k rupees less. The difference between the Sportz and Asta (both 2014 MY) is 53k rupees on-road otherwise.

We took delivery of the car yesterday. Since all the formalities were already completed and the payment was made, only the registration was to be done yesterday morning. By the time the excise cut was announced, I think they must have paid the road tax based on the invoice value. So it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to get the benefit of the excise reduction. The quantum of the price reduction still has not been communicated by Hyundai (as well as most other manufacturers) even as of now.

The SA did mention that a price cut would be applicable once Hyundai make an announcement and communicate it to them. They are not registering vehicles from today (till the reduction is announced) so that the company can pass on the benefit of the revised prices to the customers. I think they are also doing this to avoid a wave of cancellations by new customers who want to take advantage of the price reduction.

For folks who are in the process of booking or making payment, it makes sense to wait for the price reduction to be announced, as most manufacturers will pass on at least some of the reduction to the buyers.