Leading carmaker Maruti Udyog on Tuesday kicked off a new 'loyalty bonus' programme for its existing customers in a fresh attempt to boost car sales.

Under this, the customers would receive a loyalty bonus if they exchange their existing Maruti cars with a new 'Zen', 'Alto', 'WagonR', 'Esteem' or 'Baleno' model, a company spokesman told PTI.

The scheme, to be available only during April 2003, would be limited to 31 cities across the country where Maruti has its used car 'TrueValue' outlets, the spokesman said.  

Explaining the scheme, he said customers buying a new WagonR or a Zen (petrol) car in exchange for their existing Marutis would receive a loyalty bonus of Rs 8,000.   

Those exchanging their existing Marutis with a new 'Alto' would be entitled to Rs 12,000 while for those buying a new 'Esteem' or a 'Baleno' would receive a loyalty bonus of Rs 25,000, the Maruti spokesman said.

He said the customers could get their existing cars evaluated at the 'TrueValue' outlets, choose the new 'Maruti model they want to buy and receive a loyalty bonus while paying the difference.

"This scheme will leverage the benefits offered by 'TrueValue' to customers wanting to dispose off their cars.

Besides, by offering a loyalty bonus, it will also assist them in upgrading to a brand new Maruti model," he said.

Besides strengthening its relationship with new car customers, Maruti hopes the scheme would widen the choice for customers wanting to buy pre-owned cars from its 'TrueValue' outlets.

Besides the loyalty bonus, the customers buying an 'Alto' or a 'Zen' petrol would also receive an additional benefit of
Rs 5,000 in the form of Maruti genuine accessories.

"The Maruti TrueValue dealership network facilitates exchange of cars. We are able to use this twin advantage to
provide more and more benefits to Maruti customers," the spokesman said.

Maruti has its TrueValue outlets in 31 cities including National Capital Region, Mumbai, Guwahati, Bangalore, Lucknow, Chennai, Jammu, Nagpur, Pathankot, Mysore, Mangalore, Kollam, Udhampur, Goa, Hyderabad and Ludhiana.

Maruti's domestic car sales had declined by 2.6 per cent to 239,000 units during April-February 2002-03.

As against this, total passenger car industry sales rose by 5.2 per cent to 473,000 units during the period.