“Though we increased the price with effect from April 1, customers buying Tata commercial vehicles from Monday onwards will have to pay the increased price. [break]
Price hike came to effect only from Monday because new lot of vehicles that entered customs offices on April 1 started coming to market only from today,” said Santosh Khatiwada, senior manager- sales and marketing of Sipradi Trading.
The Union Budget 2012/13 of India announced in the third week of March increased the standard excise duty on automobiles by 2 percentage points to 12 percent. To cope with excise duty hike, Tata Motors had announced that all its commercial vehicles would become dearer with immediate effect.
Sipradi has increased the price of Tata commercial vehicles by 2 to 5 percent (Rs 20,000 to Rs 100,000).
“Though prices have increased by about 10 percent in India, we have raised prices by only up to 5 percent, considering the slackness in the automobile market,” said Khatiwada.
Sipradi Trading, however, has yet to increase the price of passenger cars. “We are having meetings on whether or not to raise prices because the automobile market is casting a gloomy look,” said Prabin Khatiwada, head of the passenger car division at Sipradi Trading.
Meanwhile, Sipradi Trading is planning to open 20 sales and service centers within this year. “We are preparing to open more sales and service centers to better address our customers´ woes related to sales and services,” said Khatiwada.
According to sources, Sipradi is investing Rs 500,000 to Rs 600,000 on each center.
Sipradi has recently developed a feedback system through which customers can complain about the service of Tata showrooms, attitude of staff and their experience about the service they get -- starting form the booking of the vehicle until the delivery.
“We will review the complaints on weekly basis,” said Khatiwada.
The company has also started a toll free number through which one can complain about the problems related to sales and services.
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