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Hyundai has launched its new entry model, the Eon compact car, priced between Rs 2.69 and Rs 3.71 lakh.
The car is positioned just above Maruti's Alto, the highest selling car in the market and could take away a sizeable chunk of its sales because of its focus on styling, high mileage (21.1 kmpl) and space.
"I think this car is very aspirational for those buying cars for the first time. It's not a basic car ... it's positioned between mid (Santro) and low (Alto) compact cars," said Mr Arvind Saxena, Director, Sales and Marketing, Hyundai Motor India.
Built on a new platform and sold initially only in India from Thursday, the Eon sports an 814cc petrol engine. It competes with the Chevrolet Spark and Alto K10 in terms of its price.
Hyundai expects to sell around 1.40-1.50 lakh units of the car in a year and will look to reduce production for exports at its 6.7 lakh capacity Chennai plant to meet increased local demand.
"We hope to sell at least 12,000 a month. We could export later ... South America and South Africa look interesting," Mr Saxena said.
Our Delhi Bureau adds:
Value addition
Mr Abdul Majeed, auto practice leader from PwC, told Business Line that Hyundai likely took a conscious decision to keep pricing above the Alto (contrary to most expectations) and not compromise on margins, because in case Eon's monthly volumes do not resemble Alto's (20,000 - 30,000 a month approx), it would have found it much tougher to raise prices later.
“It's a significant difference in price from the Alto, especially in the price-sensitive segment, but what competition the Eon gives will depend on what added value it can convey to the customer. I expect many more to jump in .... of late car companies have become very aggressive in India,” he said.
Alto explore
Meanwhile, the limited edition Alto XPLORE was launched on Wednesday. Alto LXI and K10 VXI variants at showrooms across the country was accessorised of worth Rs 20,000 including top-end music system, leather seats, power windows, roof spoiler and other accessories.
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