Wednesday, June 29, 2011
By Pranjal Gera
New Car launches to speed up lowering car sales
The year so far has seen a downfall in sales of automobiles, with the culprit being the ever increasing fuel prices and high interest rates. But still the high potential of the Indian market is not overlooked by the car makers and most of the leading car makers are deciding to launch new vehicles in this time of low sales.
The strategy behind this move is to attract the buyers by providing them with a number of new products to get the sales rate back on track, which has gone down to only 19%, where it was 31% last year.
The car makers will be launching cars in all segments, from hatchbacks to SUV’s with a choice of engine type, owing to the high petrol rates; diesel engine cars have recently gained much popularity among the Indian buyers.
Hyundai Motors, one of the leading car maker in the Indian market will be launching a number of products this year which will include a compact car powered by a 800cc engine and having a low price then Hyundai Santro, two premium Sedans, Hyundai Elantra and Hyundai i40, successor of Hyundai i10 and Hyundai i20, two very popular hatchbacks in the Indian market. The company hopes that these new launches will surely improve the spirits and will help in increasing the sales.
The market leader, Maruti who launched a number of models last year is now all geared up to launch its highly awaited Maruti Swift, whose launch had been postponed due to strike at Manesar plant.
Currently, the Compact Hatchback category has gripped the Indian market with a share on 75 % of sales. Other cars that will be launched in this section will be Chevrolet Beat diesel, Honda Brio and Toyota Etios Liva.
Honda Siel has put all its hopes in the upcoming model, Honda Brio, suffering from the condition of Japan, the company is expecting to increase their sales by October, when Honda Brio will be launched.
The premium Sedan segment will see the launch of Nissan Sunny, a mid-sized Sedan priced below 7 lakh. Nissan hopes they will be able to capture market’s attention with this car. The other cars in the segment are Maruti SX4, Volkswagen Vento and Hyundai Verna Fluidic which will be given a tough competition by Nissan Sunny.
The market will also witness a launch of Sport Utility Vehicles from the joint venture of General Motors and SAIC, which would be their first product.
Also Mahindra & Mahindra will be launching a SUV later this year. It will be produced under the newly formed joint venture of M&M and SsangYong and will be priced between Rs. 13-15 Lakh.
