Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Wednesday, Oct 22, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Wednesday, Oct 22, 2003 |
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Corporate
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Announcements Marketing - Strategy Hind Motors plans new models next year — Cuts `Lancer' base model price by Rs 70,000 Our Bureau
New Delhi , Oct 21 HINDUSTAN Motors (HM) is planning to launch a car in the D-segment next year with a new model from the Mitsubishi portfolio. The company also intends to roll out the new generation model of its popular sports utility vehicle (SUV), the Mitsubishi Pajero next year. "We have not decided yet whether the new model introductions will be in completely built unit (CBU) or completely knocked down (CKD) format. It will depend on the volumes. The models would be launched in the next 18-24 months," Mr G. Shyam Sundar, Vice-President (automobile division), Hindustan Motors, said. Meanwhile, the company said that it had cut the price of the base model of its premium mid-size car, `Mitsubishi Lancer' by Rs 70,000 to Rs 6.5 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) to meet growing competition in the segment. The company said that sales had been affected by launches of models from the General Motors and Toyota stable. Mr Sundar added the new price of the base `GL' model without power windows would be offered for two months, and the company would especially be targeting the fleet and taxi operators. The company said the price decrease was also as a result of increasing localisation. The localisation content of the Lancer had increased to 70 per cent from about 27 per cent five years ago. The price of the luxury edition of the Lancer has also been reduced by about Rs 40,000 two months ago. HM is targeting to sell about 5,000 units of the Lancer this year, the same as in 2002-03. During April-September 2003, HM sold about 2,000 units of the `Lancer', a decline from 2,400 units sold in the year-ago period. The `Lancer' is produced in technical alliance with Japan's Mitsubishi Motors Corporation at HM's plant near Chennai that has a capacity of 12,000 units annually. HM is planning to lease out extra capacity at its Chennai plant and has been in talks with players such as BMW, Proton and Volkswagen. HM today announced the launch of a special edition variant of the Lancer, which has been priced at Rs 8.25 lakh and Rs 9.24 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) for the petrol and diesel versions respectively.
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