Maruti Bets Big On 'Smart Finance' Platform

Avishek Banerjee Mar 31, 2021

Maruti Suzuki, the leader in the Passenger Vehicle market has claimed a 46 per cent success ratio through its 'Smart Finance Digital Platform' which it terms as a "comprehensive digital destination for all car financing needs". Shashank Srivastava, Executive Director (Marketing & Sales), Maruti Suzuki India told this reporter: "Through the Smart Finance digital platform, which is an industry first, we have been successful in offering end to end financing solution for car buyers. This is another giant step in enabling digitalization of almost all the consumer touch points in his buying process journey.”

According to Maruti, 12,186 customers (as of 29th March 2021) had downloaded sanction letters on this platform since inception. And over 51,000 customers have configured on road price of cars using this option. Furthermore, Maruti Suzuki Smart Finance (MSSF) has already created a disbursement of Rs 660 crore since inception, it said.

As per Maruti, the main reason for this digital initiative is because more customers are exploring car buying exercise via the Internet, particularly post Covid-19 outbreak. As it is almost 80 per cent of the cars sold in India are financed and going digital in a big way is simply an extension of making the entire experience for the potential customers even more exciting. The Smart Finance Platforms works in virtually real time and keeps the customers updated on the online status of their loan application process.

“Through the platform, Maruti is seeking to address the concerns of potential customers related to car finance in the 'new normal' by offering a comprehensive finance solution online with a bouquet of financing options,” the company had said in a statement. “The platform enables customers to compare multiple scenarios for car loan and offers from different financiers and make an informed choice of loan partner and loan tenure. For this, we have currently partnered with eight financiers — HDFC Bank, Yes Bank, ICCI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Cholamandalam Finance, AU Small Finance Bank, Mahindra Finance and Kotak Mahindra Prime.”