CHENNAI, MAY 22: Hyundai Motors India (HMI) is to price its Accent model at a highly competitive rate, signalling its intentions to give all other car manufacturers a run for their money. The car is to be launched in 1999.

It is learnt that the company is looking at a tentative figure of about Rs 6 lakh for the model. This is well below the price of Mahindra Ford's Escort, General Motors India's Opel Astra and the high-end versions of Daewoo's Cielo.

The current thinking in the company favours a pricing close to that of the best version of Maruti Udyog's Esteem. On-the-road prices of different versions of Esteem (LX, VX and AX) range between Rs 4.96 lakh and Rs 6.21 lakh in Chennai.

The pricing will make Accent attractive vis-a-vis the competition. The Opel Astra carries an on-the-road price tag of around Rs 7.75 lakh. The petrol and diesel versions of the Ford Escort (LX) are priced at Rs 6.96 lakh and Rs 8.36 lakh, while Cielo models are priced between Rs 5.85 lakh and Rs 7.83 lakh.

In the luxury car segment, a price difference of around Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 may not really make a difference to the buyer. But a price advantage of over Rs 1 lakh that Hyundai is likely to have is a big enough bait to lure many buyers.

However, the launch of the car is still far away, and the specifications of different features in the car are yet to be finalised. The figure is, therefore, subject to change. ``We will be able to arrive at a decision only when all the features have been finalised,'' a company source said.

Hyundai chairman Mong Chung Gyu was recently in the city for discussions with company executives on various features of the car. The meeting, however, proved inconclusive. All the features of the car are likely to be finalised in the next few months.

Worldwide, Hyundai has employed an aggressive pricing as its market-penetration strategy. In India, too, the company is looking at a mass market for its Accent cars. Its capacity of 1,20,000 cars a year at the plant coming up at Irungattukkottai is the largest among the new entrants into the passenger-car industry. The investment of Rs 2,450 crore in this unit is also among the highest.

The company has already made an impact on the industry. Its advertisements inviting applications for dealerships have evoked around 1,200 responses. It will commence the process of selecting 100 dealers from among the applicants in mid-June.

About 90 per cent of the applicants are in automotive businesses like dealerships, workshops and component units. It is learnt that the dealership offer has also evoked response from dealers of competing passenger-car manufacturers.

Most dealerships are expected to be in place two months before the launch of the car.

Although the company is also looking at dealers in rural markets, several bottlenecks have to be cleared. ``Rural customers are generally asset-rich, and may not have a liquid cash flow. The existing credit-appraisal and delivery system does not take care of their requirements,'' a company official said.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.