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Maruti Alto Xplore launch; a panic sensed before Hyundai Eon was out

Hyundai Eon that’s the echo heard from every corner numerous times by Maruti Suzuki since its launch date of Hyundai Eon was announced; the 13th October 2011. As the Maruti Alto challenger’s date was approaching the manufacturer of bestselling car was pretending normal, but at the flipside was busy producing the top-end model of Alto named Xplore. And as expected Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) launched its all new feature packed Alto Xplore few hours before its enemy was uncovered. Along with this one could see the sudden jump in the advertising campaign by the No.1 passenger carmaker. May it be the song Dhan te nan… on television, newspapers full-on offering amazing offers and internet filled with excitement. Apart from media the Maruti Suzuki dealerships were presenting tempting discounts to cash upon the ongoing festive carnival.

With all these fast forwarded moves by the company one can conclude that Maruti Suzuki seems to be haunted by compact car Hyundai Eon. The base price of Eon is about Rs 2.69 Lakhs which is much more as compared to Alto, but still there is a feeling of inferiority among the company.

Prior to Eon, new car buyers always opted for Hyundai Santro; the base level vehicle in the company’s auto stable, as their first car due to its performance, styling and price. But now Hyundai Eon has the alluring element that’s pouring out to attract the youthful new car buyers.

As per the company a sale of 10,000 cars per month will be the initial target. On the other side Maruti Suzuki sells 20,000 Altos per month on an average. The Alto which is available with a choice of 800cc and nearly 1000 cc K-Series model has a reasonable price, best in class mileage of around 19 kmpl (less as compared to Eon which is 21.1 kmpl), a world class after sales services; which matters a lot.