The Hindu Business Line : Station wagons yet to pick up pace

LAUNCHED a few years ago with the hope that the market will follow the experience of its European brethren, station wagon cars remain a rather insignificant category in India if the sales figures are anything to go by.

In fact, industry officials peg total sales of the category at anywhere around 200-300 units per annum in the country. And this, despite the presence of auto heavyweights such as General Motors (with its Opel Corsa Swing), Maruti Udyog (with the Baleno Altura) and till very recently, Fiat India (with the Palio Adventure) in the market.

While a Fiat India official confirmed that the Palio Adventure had been phased out recently after being sold on demand for sometime, dealer sources point out that the Opel Corsa Swing and the Baleno Altura are currently available only on demand.

A General Motors dealer said that there is a waiting period of about 10-15 days for the Swing because he does not keep any stocks of the car and places an order with the company according to the requirement of the consumer.

The reasons industry officials give for the category's lacklustre performance are two pronged. According to Mr Anang D. Jena, Synovate Motoresearch Chief, Synovate India, "Station wagons as a concept is quite prevalent in western countries, embedded in the culture of family weekend vacations. Station wagons are pre-dominantly weekend vehicles where the family can move together along with holiday paraphernalia such as kid's bike, pets and a host of other things. In case of India, the concept of weekend vacations is slowly emerging but still very nascent. The reason for station wagons failing to take-off in India is principally due to sheer lack of need for such a vehicle".

Also, with the launch of a multitude of multi-utility and sports utility vehicles in the market at comparable prices, the image-conscious Indian consumer seems to have a preference for the seemingly more value-for-money utility vehicles than the station wagon. While the on-road price of an Opel Corsa Swing in Delhi is about Rs 6.16 lakh (with discounts ranging from Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000), the Baleno Altura comes with an ex-showroom (Delhi) price of about Rs 6.8 lakh.

The station wagon market, however, is set to see some action in the future with the launch of the Indigo Marina from Tata Motors soon.

Meanwhile, industry officials point out that the market may see a pick-up in the near future with changing lifestyles. "In the metros, the concept of weekend vacations seems to be slowly, but steadily catching up. This is largely due to two reasons - a feeling of guilt among consumers of not getting to spend enough time with family and western lifestyle influences. What would also impact the market is emergence of several resorts close to big metros like Delhi (Chail, Manesar, Masobra) and Mumbai (Lonavla, Khandala) et al", Mr Jena said.