The Brio, Honda’s compact car model released in India on Sept. 27 (Masaaki Shoji)
The Etios Liva, Toyota Motor Corp.’s compact car that debuted in India in June (Masaaki Shoji)
The Figo, Ford Motor Co.’s compact car released in India in March 2010 (Yuzuru Takano)
NEW DELHI — The low-budget vehicle market in India is undergoing major changes, with several automakers bidding for a piece of the lucrative pie.
Major Japanese and Western automakers that used to focus on higher-end vehicles have released low-priced models of compact cars in India. These new players are threatening the dominance of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., a Suzuki Motor Corp. affiliate with the largest market share in India, and locally based manufacturers.
For example, Honda Siel Cars India Ltd., affiliated with Honda Motor Co., on Sept. 27 released the Brio compact car with prices starting at 395,000 rupees (620,000 yen or $8,100).
“With Brio, we will be entering a new segment for the first time in India,” said Takashi Nagai, president and CEO of Honda Siel, at a rollout ceremony for the Brio in New Delhi. “The compact car segment will soon become the second pillar of business for Honda in India.”
Honda Siel previously focused on luxurious sedans. The cheapest model, the Jazz hatchback (known as the Fit in Japan), cost 550,000 rupees.
India becomes the second country, after Thailand, where the Brio, which was developed for Asian markets, is manufactured and sold. The Indian model has simpler specifications than its Thai counterpart–and is about 40 percent cheaper.
Mid-income Indians who can now afford to buy four-wheeled vehicles are “sensitive to prices in global comparison,” said a senior official at a major Japanese-affiliated automaker. Sales are especially brisk for compact cars priced between 200,000 and 500,000 rupees. Suzuki, South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co. and India’s Tata Motors Ltd. used to have the edge on the competition due to their proficiency in producing inexpensive compact cars.
However, the arrival of the Brio has virtually completed a full round of new releases from other major automakers who got into the game late, leading to increased competition and a decline in the market share held by Suzuki and Tata.
Toyota Motor Corp. in June released the Etios Liva, the hatchback version of the Etios sedan released in India in December, with prices starting at 399,000 rupees. In the first five months of fiscal 2011, Toyota had a 5.6-percent share of India’s auto market (commercial vehicles excluded), up from 3.3 percent in fiscal 2010, thanks to the release of these two models.
Last year, General Motors Co. of the United States released the Chevrolet Beat in India in January, Germany’s Volkswagen AG debuted the Polo in February, Ford Motor Co. rolled out the Figo in March, and Nissan Motor Co. began selling the Micra (known as the March in Japan) in July. For all these models, prices start between 300,000 and 500,000 rupees.
A total of 3,196,829 automobiles (commercial vehicles included) were sold in India in fiscal 2010, double the number five years earlier.
leave a response, trackback from your own site