Waiting Period of 3 Months after Booking Your Imported Car [in India]

Customers will now have to wait longer to get behind the wheel of imported luxury cars, with carmakers such as Honda, Toyota, BMW and Mercedes-Benz deciding to import vehicles to India only against confirmed bookings.

Popular models like the BMW’s flagship sport utility vehicle (SUV) X6 and the 7Series saloon, Mercedes Benz’s SL-Class and SKL-Class sports cars, Toyota’s Land Cruiser & Prado, Mitsubishi’s Montero and Honda’s CR-V have delivery lags of three months or more.

Declining demand and fluctuation in currency rates have forced Japanese carmaker Honda to stop imports of its CR-V sports utility vehicle, once the largest selling petrol SUV in India. It is now shipped to India against confirmed orders from customers who have to wait for up to three months to drive the car home. Honda did not sell a single vehicle in the April-June period. “The changes in currencies have worked against imports. It led to an increase of almost Rs 3 lakh in the price of a CR-V forcing us to change our policy and to bring cars for a few guaranteed bookings,” said Masahiro Takedagawa , president and chief executive of Honda Siel Cars India.

Similarly, Toyota’s hot-selling Camry and its two SUVs, Prado and Land Cruiser, come only on direct customer booking as the company is avoiding inventory buildup of SUVs priced at Rs 40-80 lakh. “These vehicles are fully imported and carry a high custom duty. We avoid inventory at our warehouses or the dealer level,” Toyota Kirloskar Motors deputy managing director (marketing) Sandeep Singh said.

So Be Prepared for the Wait before you shell out money for that sleek & sexy sports car you’ve been longing for since ages ;)