The two-wheeler arm of Mahindra Group, Mahindra Two Wheeler, has appeared into a partnership with Snapdeal.com, in order to market one of its scooters. Interestingly, the auto maker will offer a discount of Rs 6,000 to the buyers, who will purchase the vehicle online. Reportedly, Mahindra Duro will be a part of this initiative, which has been priced around Rs. 44000 (ex-showroom, Maharshtra). The product portfolio of Mahindra Two Wheeler currently offers four scooters to the Indian buyers, which are all expected to join the fleet of Snapdeal.com soon. The auto maker has also showcased two new bikes in the Indian auto market, which are anticipated to sparkle at the Indian roads anytime soon.
On this move of M&M, industry experts stated that this is one of the unique approaches adopted by any of the auto maker to sell its vehicle. Traditionally, auto companies sell their vehicles through 'touch-n-feel' modules at physical showrooms and offering an entire model range on an online platform is quite rare.
Expressing his views on this, the Vice President at Customer Care, Mahindra Two Wheelers, Dharmendra Mishra, quoted, “Though online retailing is still in its nascent stages in India, the industry has grown tremendously over the last couple of years. MTWL is very conscious of the changing customer preferences and this is yet another step from us to get closer to the net savvy customer at his comfort zone. This partnership will open a new avenue for us. With the buying trends changing drastically over time, we are sure we can deliver more happiness to our customers through this novel tie-up with Snapdeal.com, one of its kind in the country.”
However, Skoda Auto also sold its Fabia hatchback through an online platform in 2009, by offering a discount of up to Rs. 50,000 with the model. On this move, the statement issued by the Czech auto maker stated that selling models online reduces the dealers cost, which in-turn brings down the price of the vehicle.
Reportedly, the prospective buyers at Snapdeal.com will be reached by Mahindra officials who will then accept the requisite documents from the buyers, according to their convenience. Industry experts believe that it will be the first time that an auto maker will deliver its vehicles at the doorstep of customers. The buyers will be also provided with an option to either pay for the vehicle completely at one time or to go for EMIs with 0 per cent interest. Customers can also book a test drive of the model at their required place. As per the company officials, M&M will deliver the vehicle to buyers within a span of one week. Under this scheme, the cities covered by M&M Two Wheeler include Delhi-NCR, Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata.
