Forty-five-year-old K. Rajendran must be a satisfied man today. As General Manager of a Maruti dealership in Kottakkunnu, Malappuram district, Kerala, a town not easily traceable on the India map, he has made a small beginning in bringing the taste of India to the languishing ‘Bharat’.
Perhaps one of the firsts for Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL), the man delivered 200 units of the recently launched Alto 800 to customers in Kottakkunnu.
P.K. Kunhalikutty, Kerala’s Minister for Industries and Information Technology, handed over the keys to the Alto 800 owners.
“We had 200 bookings in the span of ten days, even before the customers had seen any images or had any information on the price of the car.
“With the festivities catching up in the North, the company’s despatches to our dealership might come down. I am assuming I will carry over 150 bookings of this month to the next month. But this would only be temporary,” said Rajendran, the proud dealer.
This event should not be seen in isolation. A similar story emerges when one digs further into the hinterlands.
“This is the first time in India when so many cars are being delivered at the same time. Interestingly, the sales are happening in the hidden by-lanes of the country,” an MSIL spokesperson told Business Line .
Hamirpur, a district in Himachal Pradesh, boasts of similar numbers. Anil Sharma, Manager (Sales) of a Maruti dealership in Hamirpur, claims a booking order of 40 Altos within two days of the launch. And the story repeats itself whether in the Himat Nagar in Gujarat or Nashik in Maharashtra.
“As on October 18, total booking for the Alto 800 reached 13,000. Surprisingly, the uptake is good even in metros like Mumbai and Bangalore,” the company spokesperson said.
The company claims that the big markets for the model are Delhi-NCR, Kerala, Guwahati, Bangalore, Jaipur and Mumbai, among others.
Launched on October 16, the new Alto starts at Rs 2.44 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) and comes with more interior space.