The Hindu Business Line : Safety minuses for sales plus

THE Elantra was a much-anticipated car, especially among those in the know about its performance, capability and value-for-money proposition. But Hyundai Motor India has been unable to shake off this image of being only a good small-car manufacturer.

Buyers in the upper D-segment and the E-segment seem to be hesitant to buy cars from the Hyundai stable, even though the Elantra and the Sonata, Hyundai's cars in these segments, are doing well in other markets.

What would have been even more frustrating for Hyundai was the fact that feature-to-feature, the Elantra and the Sonata offer more bang for the buck than other cars in their respective segments.

Last month, the sales of the Elantra touched a low of 223 units and a change of strategy was possibly imminent even before those dismal sales numbers came in.

When the Elantra was first launched here, Hyundai wanted to offer even the base variant with safety and comfort features that were much ahead of the competition's cars in this segment. So, the GT (base) variant was loaded with safety features that could have appeased the discerning buyer in the D-segment, and the suspension of the car was considerably better than the segment stalwarts.

But customer and dealer feedback must have indicated to Hyundai that the average buyer in this segment, despite being mature and globally aware, was unwilling to pay a premium for a car with so many safety features.

So, it made sense to offer a lower priced variant bereft of the expensive additions required for the safety features, such as airbags, anti-lock braking and traction control, and so on.

Consequently, Hyundai has now launched a new base variant — GTI — that replaces the earlier GT version. This variant will be available only with the petrol engine Elantra and not with the common-rail diesel engine version.

The GTI has been stripped off the premium safety features, such as dual airbags for front passengers, the antilock braking system and the brake assist system.

In addition, there are a few minor changes vis-à-vis the earlier GT variant. These include replacement of power-assisted rear-view mirrors in the earlier variant with manually adjustable ones. For braking, the new variant will continue to feature booster disc brakes for the front and rear wheels.

The fully loaded GLS variant, with all the previously available safety and comfort features, will continue to be available for the same price of about Rs 9.3 lakh (ex-showroom, Chennai). But the new GTI variant, which will be available in showrooms later this week, comes at an ex-showroom price of Rs 6.85 lakh ( lower than the GT's price by about Rs 1.7 lakh).

Hyundai has also launched the Elantra range with two new colours — crystal silver and grace beige. Deliveries are expected within a week or two. Hyundai dealers are also offering a huge Rs 95,000 price cut on the GLS petrol variant.

The car will, as a result, be available for delivery at the ex-showroom price itself (insurance and registration waived).

S. Muralidhar