More March deals: Skoda Rapid’s EMI holiday, Mahindra Quanto discount

It’s the middle of March, a month when car sales usually surge, and it sounds like a virtual bazaar out there with every carmaker trying to get you to pick their cars. Two more deals have cropped up this week, just when we thought we’d seen it all.

The first is an interesting deal from Skoda on the Rapid for those of you going through a bit of a cash crunch, but hope to get rich next year. The next is discounts being offered on a vehicle that Mahindra thought would set the cash registers ringing, but sadly hasn’t – the Mahindra Quanto. Here’s a look at these two deals. Also read: March deals on Vento, Rapid, SX4 and Civic

Skoda Rapid no EMI for 11 months offer

Skoda has taken a page out of the Volkswagen Vento marketing manual for the Skoda Rapid. It is offering a similar scheme to what Vento offered a month ago. You need to just pay 50% of the ex-showroom price for a Skoda Rapid now (insurance, road tax and registration extra) and then don’t have to pay anything else for 11 months. Your EMI starts only in the 12^th month, giving you an advantage of managing your funds better. Also read: Skoda Rapid diesel road test and review

Is the deal worth it? It is a good deal for those who have a budget of only about Rs. 5 lakh right now, but would likely be able to stretch that by another Rs. 4 lakh – Rs. 5 lakh in a year’s time or be better prepared to pay out EMIs. The catch here is that this scheme locks you in to Skoda Finance, a division of Volkswagen Finance Private Limited, and you can’t avail of this offer by loans from other financiers. Also read: VW offers Vento for half price in split payment deal

Skoda Rapid’s sales have dropped in the past couple of months, from 1890 cars in December, to 1458 in January and 1371 in February. Last month a Skoda dealer in Gujarat made headlines with its unique buy one get one free offer, giving a Fabia free with a Rapid. Also read: Skoda offers buy 1 Rapid get 1 Fabia free

Mahindra Quanto cash discounts

Sales of the Mahindra Quanto haven’t quite reached the levels they were expected to reach. The Quanto’s sales dropped to 2,099 units in February, although December and January were good months, with the vehicle nearly clocking 3,000 units. Also see: Mahindra Quanto features photo gallery

In order to lift sales, Mahindra has started offering discounts on the Quanto for the first time since its launch in September. It is offering a total discount benefit of Rs. 40,000 on the Quanto. This includes insurance at Rs. 9000, which saves about Rs. 20,000 and an exchange bonus on your old car (traded in through Mahindra First Choice) of Rs. 20,000. This move is in a bid to boost sales of the Quanto ahead of the arrival of the Ford EcoSport, which is all likelihood will compete head-on with the Mahindra Quanto at some variant levels. Also see: Mahindra Quanto video review

Both these deals are good ones for buyers looking at either picking up a Mahindra Quanto or a Skoda Rapid. If you had either of these vehicles on your shopping list, this would be a good time to go get one.