The Hindu Business Line : Revving up

TEASING has to be exciting. Hyundai had been indulging in some boring teasing. Strip advertisements and even a teaser TV commercial `hinted' at something big coming our way. In the meantime, the media was going to town about the imminent introduction of the Elantra, the big car from Hyundai. I have always felt that a teaser is a great way to provoke some interest and excitement but like any good tease, it must keep the audience guessing.

It is a difficult line to draw. Too much of a tease and the audience could lose interest. Too little, and you haven't yet built up the requisite steam.

Well, whether you enjoy a good tease or not (I would wager big that most men do), the launch of the Elantra could not have been at a better time.

For starters, Hyundai, and, in fact, most Korean products, have firmly put all the "Korean image" problems firmly behind them. Samsung, LG and Hyundai itself have contributed in large measure to this image makeover.

Korean is now seen as cutting-edge technology, reliable, and well-priced. In fact, a great buy.

The automobile industry is really revving up. Financial results have been good, prospects seem better and the time seems to be ripe to go out and sell great cars.

I received an invitation a couple of weeks ago to come and see the great Maybach on display. My first reaction was to wonder how the dealer and the manufacturer got their database so terribly wrong.

Then I realised that they were doing some savvy marketing. Think about it. How many people know that the Maybach is a product of DaimlerChrysler, and costs a staggering Rs 5.2 crore or thereabouts? How many have actually seen one?

Why would someone want to buy this ultimate status symbol and glide by an unsuspecting world that does not see him as someone who has the capacity to fork out that awesome amount for a mere automobile?

The dealer needs to get rubberneckers like me into a five-star hotel and slobber all over an object of desire that they simply cannot dream of owning. Then these rubberneckers will use the time-tested art of word-of-mouth to spread the good word to hundreds of similar rubberneckers who can then stand and watch the proud owner of the Maybach get in and out of his horrendously expensive car. And the owner can have the satisfaction of knowing that the hoi polloi, God bless their suffering souls, know just how much he has paid for that set of wheels. Even better, people like me will not go to that five-star hotel, but will write about the invitation anyway. Well, Hyundai is far from the stratospheric heights of the Maybach, but will obviously touch the lives of many more people. Its Santro took that great risk that every pioneer does. It was the first "tall-boy" car to hit the Indian roads. That was the time when tall boys were only good for the marriage market, not the auto market. People looked aghast at the seemingly ungainly little automobile. Top-class quality backed by some good advertising with Shah Rukh Khan as the brand ambassador made it a leader in its category.

The Accent was launched with great fanfare. It lived up to its claims. With two great success stories under its belt, the Sonata was a hat trick waiting to happen.

Maybe the `Korean' image prevented it from really storming the D segment. I can't think of anything else going against it. It seemed to have it all. Stunning good looks, great performance and aggressive pricing. Well, the Accord and Camry really made things hot in that segment.

The top end of the C segment or the entry level of the D segment, whichever way you want to see it, has been witnessing great excitement.

The Mitsubishi Lancer, the Toyota Corolla, the Chevy Optra, the Skoda Octavia have all established themselves there, and seem to be prospering.

Obviously people seem to think that around Rs 10 lakh is a decent sum of money to spend on a car. Hyundai's entry with the Elantra should really stir things up.

Positioned as "India's first performance luxury sedan" one wonders what the Sonata, Accord, Camry and the like were.

Well, a bold opening gambit is always welcome. The baseline exhorts the audience to "play a bigger game".

I can't wait to see what the market will say now that Honda has announced the imminent entry of its well-known Civic into this segment.

Let the games begin.

(The author heads Canco

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