Monday, March 04, 2013
By Shilpa Chopra
Nissan’s Renault Duster based mini SUV launch plan intact
The latest budget proposal have proved to be a well thought reason for some car makers to apply power brakes on their expansion plans or altogether new plans for India. The luxury car makers and SUV makers are the worst sufferers. But there are some car makers such as Nissan which are in go ahead mode. Preparing a Renault Duster based SUV for India, Nissan has no reason to stop its plans. Auto industry experts believe that this strategy is fair enough as the rupee devaluation is underway and the inflation is also high and in such a situation it will hardly matter whether an SUV costs Rs 60,000 or so more. If one decides to buy an SUV he will irrespective of the price rise or high fuel price as the average income of the Indian car buyer will increase over a period of time.
Nissan’s continual of the SUV launch plan is a sure indicator that despite of all odds in the Indian auto industry, car makers are still bullish about it. Also, the SUV segment is on the rise and more and more SUVs are lined up for it. The latest will be Ford Ecosport followed by Maruti XA Alpha and others. In the luxury car segment Fiat will be launching Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Grand Cherokee while there are a lot of surprise entries on cards. A new Hyundai SUV is also anticipated but there is no official announcement of it as if yet.
It is said that the situation is worse now but not that grim to the extent that car makers need to rethink on their expansion plans. Despite of the rise in taxes and duties, India will remain a prime market for the car makers as there is variety of car buyers in the country. Right from the low cost car buyer to the high priced Ferrari cars, there is a car buyer in India for all cars. Meanwhile, Nissan is also on a go ahead policy for its low cost car brand Datsun which is all set to be a hit in the Indian car bazaar that desperately needs a low priced cars much like Maruti cars.
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