Honda Amaze Gets A Rs. 1.12 Lakh Discount

Well, if you’re wondering how a car that was launched last week is going at Rs. 1.12 lakh off, well here’s the straight answer. This discount is on the older (2nd generation) version of the Amaze compact sedan, which happens to be on sale alongside the newly launched 3rd generation model.

The top-end VX variant of the old Amaze gets 1.12 lakh off while the mid and base variants get discounts of Rs. 72,000 and Rs. 62,000 respectively. The new Honda Amaze, which starts from Rs. 7.99 lakh, has no discounts on offer just as yet.

Why is Honda selling the older Amaze alongside the new model?

To maximize sales, and compete better with the just launched Maruti Suzuki Dzire. Maruti will discontinue the old Dzire very soon and will deploy the new Dzire even for cab duties. While Maruti Suzuki has launched the Dzire at a very sharp 6.79 lakh rupee starting price, the new Honda Amaze starts at 7.99 lakh. Clearly, a big gap between the new Dzire and new Amaze exists, and Honda plans to bridge this through the old Amaze, which is now selling at a discounted price.

It helps that the new Amaze and old Amaze are identical, in mechanical terms. Both cars offer the same 1.2 liter-4 cylinder i-VTEC petrol engine with 88 Bhp-110 Nm outputs. A 5 speed manual gearbox is standard with this engine while a CVT automatic gearbox is offered as an option.

Meanwhile, this is a strategy that’s not new, even with Honda. For instance, when the Japanese automaker launched the 5thh generation City sedan in India, it continued to offer the 4th generation model, albeit with a price cut. Again, a sales maximization technique.

Multiple brands such as Maruti Suzuki and even Hyundai have used this strategy to keep sales momentum going, especially when the older generation model of a car has a dedicated set of customers.

For instance, Mahindra continues to sell the old Scorpio, which is now called the Classic, alongside the Scorpio-N. This is because the Scorpio Classic is a lot more affordable than the Scorpio-N, attracting budget conscious buyers. Moreover, the Scorpio is a cult car – another reason for Mahindra to continue selling the SUV as demand’s still strong.

However, some automakers have bucked the trend, even with best selling cars.

Take for example Toyota. The Japanese car giant pulled the Qualis MUV off the market even when it had a really strong fan following, and a growing customer base that was actually upset about the Quality getting discontinued. The Qualis was replaced by the Innova, which went on to become a cult car in itself.

However, Toyota culled the Innova just as seamlessly when they brought in the Innova Crysta to replace it. The only thing that was retained on the Crysta was the Innova nameplate. In case of the new Innova HyCross though, Toyota has chosen to retain the older Innova Crysta as it’s a body-on-ladder offering compared to the monocoque bodied Innova HyCross. The logic here is that the Innova Crysta is better suited for the cab segment where a rugged body is preferred.