Maruti Suzuki extends subscription service to Kochi; check plans, tenures

Maruti Suzuki India on Wednesday announced that it has extended its subscription programme, Maruti Suzuki Subscribe, to include Kochi. This takes the number of cities under the auto major subscription programme to nine.

The car manufacturing giant already offers its subscription services in eight other cities. These are Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai, Chennai and Ahmedabad. As part of the subscription program, customers in these cities can select from Ignis, Baleno, Ciaz, XL6 and S-Cross from NEXA portfolio and WagonR, Swift, Dzire, Vitara Brezza, Ertiga from Maruti Suzuki Arena.

Maruti Suzuki Subscribe offers mileage options of 10K, 15K, 20K and 25K km per year and also 12-, 24-, 36- and 48-month tenures. The starting rate for an all-inclusive monthly subscription for WagonR in Kochi will be Rs 12,513 for a tenure of 48 months, while for Ignis it will be Rs 13,324 for the same period of time. After the completion of the tenure, subscribers can opt to either extend the plan, upgrade the vehicle or to buy the vehicle at the market price.

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Maruti Suzuki has also partnered with ALD Automotive India - the operational leasing and fleet management business line of the Societe Generale Group - for its subscription programme.

Maruti Suzuki India's other partners for Subscription program are Orix Auto Infrastructure Services and Myles Automotive Technologies.

"Subscription is a new concept for customers in India and we are encouraged by the overwhelming response in the past few months. We have received over 15,500 enquiries. We have now expanded the program to Kochi, in addition to eight other cities. The unique initiative allows a customer to use a brand-new car without actually owning it. The customer needs to pay an all-inclusive monthly fee that comprehensively covers maintenance, 24x7 roadside assistance and insurance for the complete tenure," said Shashank Srivastava, Executive Director - Marketing and Sales, Maruti Suzuki.

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"We are thrilled to get associated with Maruti Suzuki India. The subscription offers bundled services like maintenance, insurance. Moreover, there aren't any risks related to the re-sale of the car. Our expertise and core competence help us serve the subscription customer and provide best-in-class experience to the Maruti Suzuki customer," stated Suvajit Karmakar, CEO and Whole-time Director, ALD Automotive India.

"The main reasons for higher acceptance of subscription are that there exists a segment of consumers who want to be safe in these times as well as drive the car without the hassles of ownership like managing insurance and maintenance. Especially, millennials are attracted to such an offering as they do not see much value when it comes to owning a depreciating asset," Karmakar added.

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