In a first for a passenger vehicle makers in the mass segment, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) on Wednesday introduced leasing for retail buyers.
It has partnered with Orix and ALD Automotive, globally known leasing service companies. A leased vehicle will be available for up to five years, depending on city and model.
Mercedes-Benz India has been offering leasing schemes to retail buyers for some years but no company in the mass car segment has till now.
Depending on choice of model, a lessee is to pay a rental that starts from Rs 13,499 a month (KUV 100NX), going up to Rs 32,999 a month (XUV 500). The benefit to a customer, M&M said, included lower or no down payment, zero risk on resale value of the vehicle and a fixed equated monthy instalment, inclusive of maintenance cost. A lessee will also be allowed to upgrade the model. Once the lease scheme is over, the vehicle may be retuned to the company, without the hassle of resale, and get a new vehicle. The lease offer will include services such as insurance, end-to-end maintenance, on-road assistance, accident repair and 24-hour replacement vehicle.
The offer will be at six cities — Pune, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi — in the first phase. In the next phase, this will be extended to 19 more cities.
V S Parthasarathy, group CFO at M&M, said: “Our model is a category-creating product offering, a no-worry experience for customers who prefer convenience over ownership.”
Through leasing, M&M expects incremental sales of five to seven per cent in overall passenger vehicle volumes, said Veejay Ram Nakra, chief of sales and marketing at the automotive division.