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Buying a new car? Points to evaluate…

Viral Dholakia — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 09:31:45 +0000

I recently went through the experience of researching for new car and I thought I should share it with our readers so that they can benefit from it as well!

Choosing a brand new car without proper planning could place you in a fix – as this is a decision with which you’ve to stick for at least next 4-6 years. It starts with determining your income profile, price affordability, features of a car, negotiation with the car dealer and payment mode options.

Do you actually need a car?

First and foremost, ask yourself whether you need a car? This question will get you a reply in terms of your income profile and affordability range to buy a new car. Evaluate whether your traveling needs can be fulfilled by use of public transport accessible in your locality.

Also, evaluate whether you need a car for daily travel or only for weekend leisure trip purposes. If you need your car for daily travel, you might just want to opt for a car with higher fuel economy and different fuel options such as diesel or CNG, rather than expensive petrol.

Lastly, if you’re convinced that you are buying a new car, it is implied that your income profile is equal to or higher than the mid-income range – and that, you wish to ride to your destination in the comforts of a private car over readily available public transportation.

Evaluate the Car needs

Now that you’re sure to go for a new car, evaluate which type of vehicle you would like to buy – a compact car, a sedan or a SUV? Your income profile and affordability aspects will again come into play over here, along with your preference and liking for a particular class of four-wheeler.

Remember, giving your preference a priority over the affordability would be like stretching your legs beyond the length of the coverlet. For example, you walk into a Hyundai showroom with intent to buy a Santro car; but get carried away by the looks & features of i20 model; you straightaway get overboard by 2-3 lakhs over your budget range.

Choose a Car & its Features

Now that you’ve evaluated your car need, step forward to choose a new car from various models available with different car-makers, fit within your price range.

Take, for instance, your target price range for a new car is Rs. 4 lakhs. First, evaluate which automakers manufacture cars in the range of Rs. 3.50 lakhs to Rs. 4.50 lakhs. Make a list of such four-wheeler vehicles, screen them according to your needs & preferences and compare the short-list based on feature and value proposition offered by each of them.

For example, cars that cost around Rs. 4 lakhs are Hyundai’s Santro and i10, Maruti’s Alto K10, Zen Estilo & Wagon R and Chevrolet’s Spark amongst others. Engines of all these cars range between 1000cc to 1100cc.

On further evaluation, you realize that Alto K10, which costs around Rs. 3.40 lakhs, is a low structured car in terms of height. If you’ve elders in your house with knee problems, you might want to go for a higher seat arrangement vehicle.

Among higher seat arrangement vehicles, Hyundai’s Santro Xing would cost you around Rs.3.70 lakhs, whereas i10 would cost in Rs.4.10 lakh range from the South Korean company.

While Maruti’s Wagon R would ask you for nothing less than Rs. 4.50 lakh, Zen Estilo can be bought at around Rs. 3.90 lakhs. Most of these on-road Mumbai prices are arrived at by clubbing various discount schemes; along with comfort features such as air-conditioning, power steering and front-door power windows.

Thus, now you’ve various choices to make your decision as to which type of car suits the most, based on your income, affordability and the value that each car provides suited to your lifestyle. If your budget is Rs.2 lakhs only, than Tata’s Nano is the only available option for you at this juncture, in India.

Wait for the Discount Melas

Never forget to ask for discounts and bonuses while buying a new car. Most car-makers offer special discounts and loyalty and exchange bonuses to the prospective customer, on purchase of a new car. Often, such rebates sum up to Rs. 25-40 thousand of savings.

For instance, most car dealers in India try to woo customers by offering special festival (Diwali) discounts to match consumer aspirations. Moreover, year-end discounts are also lined up by auto dealers during December to clear-up their old inventories. Infact, December is sometimes the best month to buy as people want engine manufacturing date of new year (for resale purposes). During these times, heavy discounts are offered by dealers & car manufacturers.

If such festive occasions are stacked up in near-term horizon, it makes sense to wait for another couple of months to avail of such clearance sales. While some companies offer free insurance along with the new car, others might be offering extended period warranties on a new car. You just need to ask for these freebies!

Payment Mode options

Payment mode is the most important decision you’ve to take with regard to your car, from the financial standpoint. Buying cars on loans is the latest trend in the market. But, remember, where money is involved, trend is not what you should be following, but your financial well-being that ought to dictate your decision making process.

If you have idle reserves in your savings bank account, there is no better mode of payment than cash payment. Loans, or even short tenure subsidized loans, are always going to be extra burden on your principle amount.

In case, you still have to take loan, ensure that you accept the best offer from the financial institution that charges lower interest rate and least pre-payment penalty.

So, are you ready for your long drive?

Top 10 Car launches of 2011 in India

Kaushambi — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 06:43:08 +0000

The cars launched in 2011 were a mix of hatchbacks, new variants of older popular models and SUVs. Catching up with India’s increasing demand of fuel efficient cars, automobile companies have been busy notching up their launches of 2011 with high performing car models. Let’s look at the top car launches in India in 2011, in no particular order.

Honda Brio

After being showcased at the Delhi Auto Expo and the Bangkok Auto Show, the Honda Brio was launched in India in September 2011. The car has a 1.2 litre engine and will be sold in 4 variants between Rs 3.95 lakh and Rs 5.1 lakh. The newly launched Brio aims to compete with India’s popular small cars like Chevy Beat, Hyundai i10 and Maruti’s WagonR.

Toyota Etios Liva

Ready to take on Maruti Suzuki’s Swift and Hyundai’s i10, the Liva from Toyota has a 1200 cc petrol engine and is all set to compete in India’s small car segment. Launched in June 2011, this car is priced in the range of Rs.3.99 lakh to Rs. 5.99 lakh. The Liva is the hatchback version of the Etios sedan which was launched in December 2010.

Renault Fleunce

May 2011 saw the launch of the French premium sedan Renault Fluence which is priced between Rs 12.99 lakh and Rs 14.40 lakh and comes in both petrol (2 variants) and diesel versions (5 variants). In 2010, Renault sold 1.30 lakh units of this car across the globe and hopes to see the same success on Indian roads.

Mahindra & Mahindra SUV XUV 500

In September 2011, M & M launched its sports utility vehicle that ranges from Rs 10.80 lakh to Rs. 12.80 lakh, depending on the variant you choose. After the success of Bolero in 1999 and Scorpio in 2001, Mahindra has yet again launched a monster in the lesser dominated Indian SUV segment in both 4×2 and 4×4 variants. This SUV will be launched internationally and had already conformed to Europe crash regulations.

Renault Koleos

After the launch of the Fluence in May 2011, Renault launched the 4×4 drive Koleos in September 2011. The Koleos has a 6-speed manual gearbox, a 2.0 litre diesel engine and is priced at Rs 22.99 lakh. Launched in India after China, Renault is going to follow up this SUV with another SUV called the Duster in 2012 in India.

Tata Venture

Tata kicked off new car launches in India with the Tata Venture in January 2011. The USP of this car is that it is developed on the lines and features of a hatchback but has the space and the utility of a sports vehicle. Designed to look like a mini van, the car was launched in Rajasthan and will be available in 5, 7 and 8 seater options. You can pick the Venture in 5 colours in the range of Rs 4.05 lakh and Rs 5.07 lakh.

Nissan Sunny Diesel

Following up the launch of Nissan Sunny Petrol in September 2010, Nissan came out with the diesel variant of the same in December 2011. Priced between Rs.7.98 lakh and Rs.8.78 lakh, the mid-sized sedan is expected to give a mileage of 21.64 km per litre. After Chevrolet Beat’s launch of its diesel variant in 2011, Nissan Sunny’s diesel version is only going to satiate the rising demand of fuel efficient cars in India.

Skoda Yeti 4×2

After the launch of the Skoda Yeti in the 4X4 version in 2010, Skoda launched the Yeti in the 4X2 version in November 2011. The 4×2 comes with Hill Hold Control, a price drop to Rs 13.20 lakh, 2 trim levels (Yeti Active and Ambition) and a 5 speed manual gearbox amongst other features.

Hyundai Eon

Going face to face with Maruti Suzuki’s Alto, Hyundai has launched its Eon, a small car which is priced at just Rs 2.7 lakh. This is Hyundai’s first car that has been developed completely from scratch for the Indian small car market and it aims to sell more than 1.5 lakh units in the first year – a loftier goal than Alto’s performance in its first year.

Volkswagen Jetta

August 2011 saw the launch of a luxury sedan priced at a cool Rs. 14.12 lakh. Apart from luxurious leather upholstery that almost all luxury sedans have these days, some of the features of the Jetta include 2.0 litre – 4 cylinder CR TDI engine, 6 speed DSG gearbox and 8 Airbags to minimize injury in the event of an accident or collision. This launch marks the 6th generation of the Jetta.

And, lastly, there was one Audi A6 launch as well to enthuse up-market car enthusiasts.

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Brand Arrogance: How Market leaders lose the plot – lessons from Honda

Dr Vikram Venkateswaran — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 06:37:56 +0000

Market leaders are always in a peculiar position. Always faced with the daunting task of keeping their position, Often than not, they lose track of what got them to the top and end up as laggards in the Industry they once dominated. In other words they become victims of Brand Arrogance.

Take Hindustan Motors (HM) the makers of the iconic ‘Ambassador’ for example today they are a shadow of their former self. But up until the mid- 80’s the only challenge for Hindustan Motors was coming from Premier Motors and a substitute competition from Bajaj scooters.

But then the arrogance steeped in and HM never thought of providing what customers wanted and slowly but surely slipped into oblivion.

Twenty years later, another auto company is going down the same route and this is actually a surprise. When Honda entered India, it was with a bang. They had brought in a popular car that was in many ways built for Indian roads, the Honda City. In the early 2000’s it used to be a matter of pride to own and drive a Honda City. City ruled the roads in its segment for many years but soon the Customers were looking for a change and Honda was not listening.

They released a Civic as a logical upgrade but that did not have many takers. Honda Accord was too expensive for most. The Honda Jazz though a very good car was definitely over priced for its segment.

And after losing much of the market share Honda finally launches the Brio one of the cheapest cars in its segment. But in my opinion it is a little too late.

The Brio comes in at a time when the market is flooded with cars, and also with petrol only variant when the Petrol prices are at an all-time high. Further Honda cuts the prices on the Jazz and City, an act that it has never done.

It is not difficult to figure out what the result would be.

So how can a market leader avoid brand arrogance?

I believe there are three simple steps in which a good brand can keep its ears open and be cognizant of what the customers are saying.

Listen to the customer

Often brands go into a ‘speak only’ mode and even use their communication channels to only broadcast. They often stop listening and taking in any feedback from customers and prospects. I once recently overheard a Honda official calling the City a luxury car. I was really amazed at that analogy, it could have been 10 years ago but now with every second car being a sedan, the concept of luxury in India had become an Audi or Bentley.

Effectively Leverage Social Media

A quick check on the Honda India Twitter account shows just 240 odd followers and 740 odd tweets. In a piece earlier I had discussed what lessons Marketers can learn from Volkswagen.

Currently Volkswagen India has about 5000 followers and has been present in India only in the last two years. Also Volkswagen is running a contest which is in sync with its marketing campaign for Jetta called ‘anything4jetta’.

Brands should always strive to build a community and engage the same to bolster themselves. A good example to this effect is Apple which over the years has built a strong community of Apple fanatics who would not hesitate from paying the price for an Apple product.

Play to your strengths

Honda has traditionally been strong at R & D. Hence it should continue doing the same rather than trying to reduce the price and get into a very dangerous price war which its competitors like Suzuki and Hyundai. I feel what Honda should have done earlier was to dazzle existing customers and prospects with its technology by bringing out cars with advanced features that the Consumers are seeking. Volkswagen did introduce many new features on the Vento and stole the march over Honda.

In conclusion I feel that most brands, when they get into leadership position, forget about the very attributes that got them there. This situation is not endemic to Auto but can be seen across Industries.

It is the role of the marketing managers to ensure that Brand Arrogance is kept away and customers are always the focus of a brand whether it is a leader, challenger or niche player.

Your thoughts welcome!

5 Ways to beat Petrol price hike!

Eric Jose — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 07:30:46 +0000

Petrol price hikes have been a nightmare for all of us. Combined with inflation, it is becoming hard for an average Indian to survive.

So it is high time that we adopt measures to use less fuel, so that the impact of price rise is minimal. Following are some practices when followed would save fuel and hence money.

Switching vehicles off at traffic signals

Switching off your car engines at long traffic signals is a must, especially when stoppages are more than 60 sec. Calculations show that each vehicle owner can save over Rs 3,100 annually just by ensuring that his or her car is switched off at every red light that lasts for more than 14 seconds which would hold for, perhaps, all signals.

So at a signal- Switch-off, wait and go!

Check the tire pressure

Under-inflated tires are one of the most commonly ignored causes of crummy mileage. Tires lose air due to time (about 1 psi per month) and temperature (1 psi for every 10 degree drop); under-inflated tires have more rolling resistance, which means you need to burn more fuel to keep your car moving.

Check tire pressure every month. Free tire checking facility is available at almost every petrol pump in India.

Shutting off the A/C

Consider shutting off the air conditioner, opening the windows and enjoying the breeze. It may be a tad warmer, but at lower speeds you’ll save fuel.

That said, at higher speeds the A/C may be more efficient than the wind resistance from open windows.

It is said that at lower speeds vehicles with Air conditioners on consume 10% more fuel than normal.

Downsize

If you’re planning for a new car, it’s time to re-evaluate how big a car you really need. Smaller cars are inherently more fuel-efficient, and today’s small cars are roomier than ever.

Small cars consume way less fuel, come at a cheaper cost and are easier to drive. With the Indian hatchback market hotting up, there are way more choices at attractive prices.

All these cars are feature rich. With European manufactures entering the market hatchbacks are a different class now.

So let go off the sedans & SUV’s… time for Hatchbacks!

Avoid driving as far as possible!

Now that’s a no-brainer isn’t it – But most of us forget it. We still take out our Cars / bikes for very short distances!

How about walking or cycling to market, and using the metro or bus to office. I know it’s a tough call for most us. But many of us can do this once in a while. You don’t pay for fuel when you are not using it at all. Walking or biking is good for your wallet and your health.

And before you get in your car, always ask yourself: "Is this trip really necessary?"

Any more tips you want to add?

Maruti goes for a CNG drive – Advantage consumer!

Viral Dholakia — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 10:38:53 +0000

As the world gradually comes out of the grip of recession, the consumption demand has staged a remarkable come back in the developing economies like India – and, so also has the intense competition, lined-up to grab this incremental demand.

Speaking industry wise, it goes without saying that the automobile sector in India has been the best performer so far on the backdrop of improving environment and increased consumer spending. However, one can get a feel of the intense competition in this sector going solely by the fact that the market leader in the 4-wheeler category – Maruti Suzuki – has lost quite a bit of market share over the last one year.

Interestingly, the market share of the country’s largest car maker has shrunk to 47.59% leading up to the June quarter for the last one year, signifying a drop of 7% from the earlier market share of 54% during the preceding year. This is for the first time that Maruti has seen its market share drop below 50% in its history.

In a bid to regain some of its lost ground and at the same time benefit from the prevailing situation of high demand growth, the company is expanding capacity at a faster pace upping its annualized production by 20,000 vehicles to 1.3 million in the second half of this year. In fact, some automobile experts suggest that the competition might intensify further powered by the new products from Toyota and Hyundai.

That’s not all – In an unprecedented move to cap its eroding market share, Maruti will also launch five new cars in CNG versions in a single day in the mid-August.

Yes, Maruti is all-set to unleash some of its best-selling models such as Alto, Estilo, Wagon-R, multi-purpose vehicle Eeco and mid-sized Sedan SX4 with factory-fitted CNG versions – which will offering Maruti a first mover advantage in the market for CNG-fitted cars.

Moreover, this move will come handy at a time when Congress-led UPA government has decontrolled the prices of petrol and hiked the diesel prices, thus ensuring that CNG as an automotive fuel retains its cost competitiveness.

Compared to the present price of liquid motor fuels, CNG at the revised price will still be cheaper by 60% and 30% as compared to petrol and diesel prices respectively. Besides, a switch over to CNG-fuelled vehicles also leads to drop in carbon monoxide levels leading to significant emission-based advantage and offers vehicle fuel economy.

Understandably, the brownie point that the Maruti wants to score with a factory-fitted CNG powered vehicle is that it saves the vehicle owner from hassles of significant modifications that are needed to be carried out for a gasoline engine designed to run on CNG. In fact, such factory-fitted conversions operate very well and alleviate bulk and the complexities imposed by a manually-fitted dual-fuel system in a vehicle.

Do you feel Maruti can regain its lost market share by innovative methodology of factory-fitted CNG powered cars?

Hyundai To Stop Production In India – Thanks to Labour Strikes !

Ankit Agarwal — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 02:58:00 +0000

Infrastructure or the lack of it, has often been cited as the primary reason for India remaining a developing country even with all the talent available in the world. There is no denying that fact, but there are numerous other reasons which will hinder India’s growth even if the infrastructure improves. One of the them is bought to light from the headline.

Hyundai after facing numerous strikes by its employees in the recent past has decided to stop its production facilities in India and move it to Turkey. Including the recent one in Mumbai which resulted in this decision, there have been as many as 4 strikes since 2008 at various Hyundai facilities.

The car maker seems to have had enough of fighting union battles and has decided to put an end to it by closing down its production facilities in India. Hyundai has apparently chosen Turkey for cost advantages and lower taxes but employee unrest at its Indian facilities has been the triggering factor.

A quick look into Hyundai’s operations in India and its impact can be highlighted from,

In 2009 alone, Hyundai exported about 50,000 i20 compacts from India to Europe, more than half its total production of the car - means that not only manufacture cars for selling in India but also exports them to other countries from its Indian facilities.

Now, this clearly suggests that Hyundai considers India as a strategic locations for its operations especially for the production of its compact car segment. The repercussions of the Hyundai stopping production in India are plenty

Loss of Jobs :
I don’t have exact numbers of the headcount in Hyundai’s India operations but i guess it will easily run into thousands. With the production moving away from India locations, all these jobs are going to be lost.
Revenue Loss:
The government stands to lose revenues which it makes from levying taxes, export duty etc.

Apart from these obvious ones, there is one really worrying repercussion that this incident could possibly trigger namely

A Bad precedent for other foreign car manufacturers…

Car makers around the world have noticed Hyundai’s success story from its Indian facilities and how it has pioneered the small car production. With a bad example like this, newly arrived car makers like Nissan and GM would think twice before rolling out their production facilities.

Now I am not saying that the labor strike is unjust and uncalled for since it is difficult to gauge the real culprit in cases like these. However, the union battles in India are not new and are in most cases backed by political muscle.

Moreover, I presume union leaders here take companies for granted to accept their demands sooner or later. But Hyundai seems to have left no room for that now. Talk about fighting for the benefit of employees.

Labor strikes are not prevalent in India alone but given Hyundai’s strong action I wonder if the handling of the same has been done well. This is indeed unfortunate and big bolt to India’s attractiveness as a manufacturing hub for foreign automakers. What are your thoughts on this?

Bajaj goes the Nano way – To roll out $2500 Ultra-Cheap Car with Renault

Viral Dholakia — Thu, 06 May 2010 02:30:00 +0000

They say competition creates better products and leads to innovation and enhanced creativity. But, what can competition do in case of products that are ultra-cheaply priced? Be it mobile handsets or even low cost affordable cars.

Either it will drive down the prices of the products further cheaper (which is hard to imagine in case of ultra-low cost products) or allow newer players to enter the fray of volume game led by business run on wafer-thin margins.

Remember the day when the Tatas had promised to sell its first one lakh Nano cars at Rs.1 lakh regardless of the fluctuating manufacturing costs?

However, subsequent to that promise, the manufacturing costs are surging at a faster pace. Add to that, costs related to the up gradation of engines in compliance with the recently introduced stringent Euro IV emission norms.

However, even as challenges related to cost controls remain, the automobile industry seems to be betting big on the opportunities in ultra-cheap cars. This can be gauged from the fact that newer players are looking to enter the fray of low cost, volume game in ultra-cheap cars.

Bajaj’s $2500 Fuel-efficient Car

Bajaj Auto has announced a car in association with Renault and Nissan that will cost $2500 for the common people’s car. The Indian bike manufacturer has collaborated with these manufacturers to leverage on their technology and expertise in manufacturing light vehicles and knowledge of Indian markets.

Even as the global automobile manufacturers are still to come on terms with the concept of manufacturing ultra-cheap cars, the race for this segment of car is picking pace in India in order to cater to the base-of-the-pyramid rising middle class affluent public.

Best thing about the new car is it is aimed to provide for a fuel economy of 30 km/litre as against a mileage of about 23 km/litre provided by Tatas Nano. Gradually, the mileage of cars is inching closer towards 2-wheeler like capacity of mileage economy.

Will Bajaj Survive its Promise?

It remains to be seen as to how well can the Bajaj conglomerate leverage its strength of developing cost competitive 2-wheelers, for manufacturing of affordable category cars.

Well, as of now I’m left wondering, whether Bajaj venture would be able to roll out their cars at a paltry Rs.1.1 lakh which is, in fact, is lower than the price of Rs.1.23 lakh offered by Tata’s Nano for its cheapest model !

Most probably, two years down the line, higher metal prices and inflationary pressures could likely eat away all the profits and escalate costs.

2-Wheeler Market Share up for Challenge?

Will the toy-like cuddly cars be able to snatch the market share from the 2-wheeler space? Well, that certainly seems to be their closest competitors in terms of product market.

With the entry of Bajaj into the fray of manufacturing affordable category cars, a new school of thought seems be gaining pace that the low-cost cars could well be up to tap the target market of 2-wheelers consumers.

In a statement by Bajaj Auto’s MD Rajiv Bajaj said,

“We have been focusing on developing a car (so) that the monthly cost of ownership is low enough to motivate two-wheeler buyers to upgrade into a car. Our aim is to deliver a mileage of 30 km per litre.”

Finally, That Lure to Buy… :)

Speaking about ultra-cheap cars reminds me of a cliché that goes with buyers shopping in malls. They say that a mall develops such an environment under a single roof that a consumer might get tempted to buy products that are not planned to be bought at a given juncture.

But the marketing, positioning and pricing strategies involved in mall marketing, tempts a buyer to spend that extra buck and buy a product which was originally unintended to spend money on.

Similarly, is the situation for the ultra-cheap car market for those middle class Indian public who don’t own a vehicle but can get a hand on a little over Rs.1 lakh range. The affordable category car has brought a dream vehicle in the reach of common public and with a perfect lure for itself.

Any guesses… Where is the market of ultra-cheap cars heading towards?

Maruti 800 To Make Its Journey Into History Books,To Phase Out Of 13 cities

Ankit Agarwal — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 12:30:33 +0000

The dynamics of the consumer marketplace have changed phenomenally in the last few years.In this never ending pursuit to meet customer demand, the manufacturers have been forced to revisit their products and deliver new and better product variants every now and then.Now, the whole marketplace thrives on better and new products ever so frequently that it becomes very difficult to garner a long standing memory of a product.

However, there are a few which have an immense connect with the domain they belong to.These products are not even path breaking in the current timeframe but they continue to linger in our minds.

As is clear from the title, we are talking about the good ol Maruti 800 , the defacto car for the middle class families for a long time.Maruti 800 revolutionized the auto industry in India when owning a car was a dream for many.The car was an engineering genius of its time packing good amount of features in its relatively small frame and to beat it all, a very affordable price tag.So much so, that in a car market spoilt with choices, Maruti 800 has still managed to hold its fort for 26 long years.

But, a few months from now and Maruti 800 will finally be starting its journey into the history books.The government has imposed the new BS IV norms (equivalent of EURO IV) and the car manufacturers will be allowed to sell only EURO IV compliant vehicles in the four metros and the 9 major cities including Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Agra and Surat.There were talks about M 800 being retired from 11 cities a few months back but it is indeed going to happen now.

The folks at Maruti have decided not to upgrade the current EURO III compliant M-800 to EURO IV and as a result of that, have decided to retire M-800.Maruti 800 has also suffered a steady decline in sales over the last few years and a considerable amount of competition has come from its own in house Maruti Alto which seems to be much in tune with the times in terms of technology and aesthetics.So, it might be a wise decision to retire the Maruti 800 in phases.

Maruti 800 IMO has truly been the car that made India drive.I still get nostalgic recalling that most of the cars that i saw on road during my childhood were indeed dominated by Maruti 800.Everything from the product features,price,marketing seemed perfectly connected to India and this is one thing i totally feel M 800 managed to stay on the road for 26 years and still counting.Maruti will continue selling its M 800 in other cities where the EURO IV norms have not been mandated.

However, i wonder if M 800’s retirement will make it even easier for theÂ path breaking ,super affordable Tata Nano.Nano has altered the affordability factor for cars by a few notches and with M 800 phasing out, its pricing will beat other car variants fair and square.

What do you think about the phasing out of M 800? What do you think made it go on and on for a good 26 years and still retain its charm.

A Good Year For The Indian Automobile Sector

Ankit Agarwal — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 04:34:13 +0000

The dawn of a new year brings with it a lot of insights into what transpired in the year just gone by.In the industry , it is even more relevant when companies take a look at their Year On Year numbers.Well, the Indian Auto Sector seems to have come out tops reporting impressive numbers for the year 2009.Almost all major automakers reported increasing growth numbers.This assumes even more significance since the U.S. Automobile industry is yet to get back on its feet completely.So, the Indian advantage is showing in all its glamour.

What is even more heartening to note is that the major automakers in India have reported increasing Export revenues too.Now, a few automobile manufactures like Hyundai are not necessary Indian but their Indian operations have been doing brisk business and this brings home the fact that the Indian Economy is getting back in shape.

Hyundai Motor India Ltd, the country’s second largest car manufacturer and the largest passenger car exporter surpassed its target for 2009 and reported a 42% increase in domestic sales.The exports grew by around 9% , a lot of contribution to this coming from the latest flagship model i10 and the advanced version i20.Hyundai opened its second plant in Chennai to cater to the increasing export demand for its i10 models.

Maruti Suzuki , one the leading car maker in India did get its bearings right in an increasingly competitive Indian Car market by gradually shunning down the traditional M800 model.Maruti represented a ~31% increase in sales on a YOY basis.Maruti has been very aggressively rolling out a gamut of new models specially in the small car segment as it is known.Maruti has also increased its market share in the A3 segment with its SX4 and D’zire models giving the likes of Honda City a run for its money.

General Motors India registered a phenomenal >100% increase in sales for the month ending Dec against the same in the year 2008.This marked the highest ever sales number in a month for General Motors India.The company has gained good traction with its new hatchback Chevrolet Spark and the Chevrolet Tavera.The company registered a 16% growth for the 3rd quarter ending Dec 09.

Mahindra and Mahindra , a major player in the tractor market has launched into the passenger car market for sometime and has reported tremendous number for the month ending December 2009.It reported a whopping 122% increase in the sales for the last month of the year and a phenomenal increase in export by 203%. Talk about explosive growth.

All in all, the month of December in the year 2009 turned out to be fruitful for the auto makers in general.However, the Indian Auto makers are getting even more hotter.The german car maker Volkswagen has made an impressive entry into India and they seem to have their focus right on the money, the small car segment.This year should be an interesting one too for the auto makers and the auto makers are happy with the demand.So much so that the likes of Ford India have raised the prices for their models and the industry analysts claim that a 5% increase in car prices is around the corner.It will also be a worth watching how Tata Motors shapes up this year.Nano has enjoyed tremendous publicity and hype and it will be great if the sales numbers justify the same.Tata Motors will also be looking to get aggressive with its recently acquired Jaguar and Land Rover models.

With the economy growing at a healthy rate, the future looks promising for the Indian Auto Market.

What are your thoughts on the Indian Auto Industry? Do you think they will be able to maintain the growth momentum this year in an ever increasing competitive marketplace