[84.monsoon]

Originally Posted by akannath

My Docket shows a price increase of Rs.80K (11.92L vs 12.72L) following the price increase for the 1.5 NA Prestige variant. Your is nearly double? How come? Is it due to the registration/RTO difference between Chennai and Palakkad, Kerala?

Yes the Road Tax cut-offs and slabs may be different - TN charges 10% road tax up to 10 lakhs ex-showroom and 15% above that. I think Kerala is 8% upto 10 lakhs and 10% between 10 and 15 lakhs.

Kerala starts pinching hard beyond 20 lakhs as road tax is 20%

[akannath]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

Yes the Road Tax cut-offs and slabs may be different - TN charges 10% road tax up to 10 lakhs ex-showroom and 15% above that. I think Kerala is 8% upto 10 lakhs and 10% between 10 and 15 lakhs.

Kerala starts pinching hard beyond 20 lakhs as road tax is 20%

I see....good to know the difference state to state. Yes, 1.5L increaase in your case is indeed very steep for a car launched less than 2 months ago

[gauravkaushik]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

It’s not at all fair or ethical of Kia to raise prices so soon after lunch, plus offer no price protection to those who booked earlier.

Mahindra and Mahindra did a stellar thing here by offering price protection to the people who booked early for both the new Thar and the XUV700, no matter when the delivery happens. Proud to say these are the days when Indian businesses are setting the tone on fair and ethical business practises that are well ahead of companies from other parts the world!

Fair Point, Mahindra was a notch above by giving the price protection to 2nd day bookings of XUV 700, which failed to book due to website glitch, although they were no obligation to do so, since they have already made clear that introductory price is application for 1st 25k bookings only. Kudos

[amol4184]

The D-AT was never the VFM. Heck even the mid range models are hardly excellent value - I would call them just rightly priced. The true and only VFM was bare bones base model undercutting Ertiga. But Kia with their smart ad campaign managed to create a perspective that whole Carens range is VFM.

And the base model does not have AT nor it is as fuel efficient as MS twins. I guess Maruti does not have much to fear post the facelift launch of Ertiga/XL6. For someone who just wants to move 6-7 people in a leisurely and fuss free manner, the Carens base model is now looking suspicious.

This coy move of rising prices without price protection is sad. Show some solidarity and respect to people who dropped their money at the first chance even without looking at the car.

[SolitaryRabbit]

Slightly off topic, but I feel in India automobile companies should reserve prices for customers who have booked their cars at a certain price. Recently we saw how Rivian in US rolled back price hikes for people who had booked the car prior to the price hike. I hope one day we have such price protection in our country too.

[sou_3749]

Is the price rise really unfair? Yes and No.

No, because they haven't comitted on price protection.

Yes, because the product became hit due to the fact that it's fairly priced. Because of the people who booked in large numbers. The company should have honored atleast those who booked before price reveal. But that's some ideal ethical scenario. Whenever there is a huge price hike, a group of people will always be unhappy.

But what made KIA to revise the price after just 1.5 months?

The prices lower down the variants are simply non sustainable. You can't sell a better car in every aspect than ertiga/xl6 at a lower cost. Even after price rise it's still a better car than MS twins. There are cost savings but I can't imagine how it's cheaper than Seltos. The price increase was evident. This would have been a hit even with current prices as introductory sticker.

Is it still VFM?
I guess till prestige plus it's bang for every buck. The similar spec hector plus/xuv 700 is still 4 lakhs costlier. If you want a people mover and not a SUV, this still makes the cut.

[jithin23]

Looking at the current price hike, XUV700 and Safari feel Value for Money and have much better specs to pull 7 people at ease. Especially the XT in Safari and AX5/7 in XUV700.

[chevy00]

Originally Posted by sou_3749

Is the price rise really unfair? Yes and No.

No, because they haven't comitted on price protection.

Yes, because the product became hit due to the fact that it's fairly priced. Because of the people who booked in large numbers. The company should have honored atleast those who booked before price reveal. But that's some ideal ethical scenario. Whenever there is a huge price hike, a group of people will always be unhappy.

But what made KIA to revise the price after just 1.5 months?

The prices lower down the variants are simply non sustainable. You can't sell a better car in every aspect than ertiga/xl6 at a lower cost. Even after price rise it's still a better car than MS twins. There are cost savings but I can't imagine how it's cheaper than Seltos. The price increase was evident. This would have been a hit even with current prices as introductory sticker.

Is it still VFM?
I guess till prestige plus it's bang for every buck. The similar spec hector plus/xuv 700 is still 4 lakhs costlier. If you want a people mover and not a SUV, this still makes the cut.

Agree with you. "Introductory price" does mean that the company is giving a special offer and price may be revised without notice. However, like Mahindra did for XUV 700, they should have announced first x number of bookings will get the special price & there would have been no confusion. Everyone who booked, booked hoping they will get the special price & now may are feeling cheated.

Worst part is that they haven't even been able to fulfil the bookings of Day 1 (January 14th). They should have given price protection to some people basis some cutoff.

All manufacturers are increasing prices due to input costs and after some initial disgruntlement, things will settle down. Some people might surely cancel, but everyone wouldn't.

I wouldn't have cancelled. Would have been upset but would have still waited and taken delivery of the car.

[achintatri]

Originally Posted by chevy00

Agree with you. "Introductory price" does mean that the company is giving a special offer and price may be revised without notice. However, like Mahindra did for XUV 700, they should have announced first x number of bookings will get the special price & there would have been no confusion. Everyone who booked, booked hoping they will get the special price & now may are feeling cheated.

Worst part is that they haven't even been able to fulfil the bookings of Day 1 (January 14th). They should have given price protection to some people basis some cutoff.

All manufacturers are increasing prices due to input costs and after some initial disgruntlement, things will settle down. Some people might surely cancel, but everyone wouldn't.

I wouldn't have cancelled. Would have been upset but would have still waited and taken delivery of the car.

I think if there are 'introductory prices', there should be price protection otherwise it's a straight fraud. Infact there should be a clause where they should offer certain discount in case of delay in the promised delivery.

In the era where data analysis and forecasting models are as common as 'paan ki dukaan', the government should make it mandatory for the product and service providers to provide price/value protection to the end user.

On one end you are introducing new models post covid which btw is still in existence and on the other hand you want to take advantage of the supply crisis and raw material cost escalations to pass on to the burden to the end users. This doesn't show any professional or ethical behavior which however is always expected from white/blue collar employees.

But as an industry you always have a 'reason' to hike prices.

Unfortunately, this world is created by people like us for whom a vehicle has become more of a want than a need. On top of it, our media will make sure that a vehicle is sold in the intended market even before it is launched.

Anyone would take advantage of the same. As for Kia, they have definitely catered to an untapped potential market that was non existent and the response was majorly due to VFM factor but come end April and I am more than 100 percent sure that more than half of bookings will move towards xl6, ertiga.

And I would request the MODS to again put a vote between Carens and XL6/ Ertiga after the launch.

Just a matter of few more days and we are almost there

[akannath]

Originally Posted by jithin23

Looking at the current price hike, XUV700 and Safari feel Value for Money and have much better specs to pull 7 people at ease. Especially the XT in Safari and AX5/7 in XUV700.

Agreed the price hike was below the belt that too within 2 months of launch. My Prestige 1.5NA has gone up by 80K and I dont believe they have even delivered more than a handful of this variant.
But cant see how Tata Safari XT is more VFM. Ex showroom price of 18.5lacs gives me very little over and above the Prestige variant. Heck even XM is 16.5 lacs, thats nearly 3lacs more than the 1.4 Petrol Prestige Plus. And with few features missing incl only 2 air bags. Yes, there is the butch feeling and the powerful motor, but for a people mover with a useable 3rd row, its still Carens (till Prestige Plus) or XL6 I would say from a VFM perspective

[ptaneja]

If this article is true, this is indeed cheating when you have just delivered 7k vehicles in introductory price.

https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto...049112478.html

[jithin23]

Originally Posted by akannath

Agreed the price hike was below the belt that too within 2 months of launch. My Prestige 1.5NA has gone up by 80K and I dont believe they have even delivered more than a handful of this variant.
But cant see how Tata Safari XT is more VFM. Ex showroom price of 18.5lacs gives me very little over and above the Prestige variant. Heck even XM is 16.5 lacs, thats nearly 3lacs more than the 1.4 Petrol Prestige Plus. And with few features missing incl only 2 air bags. Yes, there is the butch feeling and the powerful motor, but for a people mover with a useable 3rd row, its still Carens (till Prestige Plus) or XL6 I would say from a VFM perspective

Safari comes with a 2.0L diesel engine and has roomier interiors as well as a solid build. Cares Prestige+ diesel is almost neck to neck in terms of pricing. With the current fuel prices not reducing further, I feel diesel is a better pick.

[sou_3749]

Originally Posted by akannath

Agreed the price hike was below the belt that too within 2 months of launch. My Prestige 1.5NA has gone up by 80K and I dont believe they have even delivered more than a handful of this variant.
But cant see how Tata Safari XT is more VFM. Ex showroom price of 18.5lacs gives me very little over and above the Prestige variant. Heck even XM is 16.5 lacs, thats nearly 3lacs more than the 1.4 Petrol Prestige Plus. And with few features missing incl only 2 air bags. Yes, there is the butch feeling and the powerful motor, but for a people mover with a useable 3rd row, its still Carens (till Prestige Plus) or XL6 I would say from a VFM perspective

Everybody has a right to feel cheated if there is an unexpected price hike whether justified or not. I was feeling the same back in 2015 with SCross but with Carens got lucky. Out of 50000 bookings, prices hiked just after 12000+ deliveries, not sure whether we can call it cheating.

However Safari and XUV 700 are not direct competetors with Carens. They have bigger footprint, bigger engine, bigger wheels, better built (as per NCAP) and hence costs more. But the same can't be said about quality or features. The target audience is different with a small portion of cross shoppers. The only variant with similar specs is the hector plus sharp which is atleast 4-5 lakhs costlier with an disadvantage of space. Harrier is never comparable to Carens as it misses out on petrol engine and not really a city car.

Now one needs to decide to go for VFM or go big.

[84.monsoon]

Originally Posted by sou_3749

. Out of 50000 bookings, prices hiked just after 12000+ deliveries, not sure whether we can call it cheating.
Now one needs to decide to go for VFM or go big.

The issue is not about the 7000 units delivered before price hikes. (I think this is a correct number and not 12000 units as delivery started only in late February). The question is how many of the VFM variants (which hogged the advertisements, at 8.99 lacs and 9.99 lacs) were delivered. The other variants were more or less priced on par with competition, at launch in any case. I do not believe Kia has delivered even one unit of the premium variant at 8.99 lacs. Very few Prestige variants priced at 9.99 lakhs were delivered. The number of units of the Prestige variant delivered prior to price hike was not disclosed by Kia, which is not surprising to me at all.

[msk_kapoor]

If the intention of the manufacturer is to increase the price after the introduction price, then they need to mention the quantity that will be available. Mahindra has done the price protection and is sticking to it. I don't see any other factors suddenly pushed Kia to raise prices immediately after launch. This looks like a cheap marketing tactics to gain attention and then riding on that as much as possible. The only competition is XL6 which Kia might have got some inside Intel that it might not be a major upgrade and hence won't dent Carens sales.

I booked the top diesel AT which comes to 22L in Chennai which over steps into the proper SUV price bracket and hence I am looking for alternatives than proceeding with Carens. I feel the people booked the top end might switch over, but the other lower variants will still continue to sell and won't see much cancellations. But if XL6 comes with a googly then things will drastically change and Kia will regret it's decision.