The others who make their debut in this segment are the diesel versions of the Zen and Uno followed by the Daewoo d'Arts and Hyundai Santro, both of which are petrol-driven. The two cars from the Korean stable are going to be priced at around Rs 3 lakh and it is believed that they could eat into the 800's share, albeit marginally.

However, all eyes will be focused on the Telco Indica which, interestingly enough, has drawn the ire of Fiat Auto. The February issue of Auto India has reported that Fiat is not happy with Italian design house, IDEA, which designed the Telco small car, as the final product has some resemblance to its own Palio that is slated to make its entry in India next year. A problem could arise if the Indica (orMint), which is considerably cheaper, becomes such a runaway success that it affects the fortunes of the Palio.

An interesting theory doing the rounds is that Fiat could still hold the trump card if it decides to bring forward the entry of the Palio using the Kurla plant recently acquired from Premier Automobiles. This facility presently assembles the Uno but the capacity is a comfortable 60,000 units, which could accommodate another range of vehicles. Observers reiterate that Fiat would do well to use this plant to assemble a nominal number of CKD (completely knocked down) kits of the Palio and introduce the car in the market around the same time as the Telco Indica.

The Italian automaker is known to be an aggressive player and it is more than probable that it can hold its own in pricing its car competitively vis-a-vis the Telco product. An advance launch of the Palio could make all the difference to the product's success in the Indian market, dealers say. The Indian customer could just dismiss it as anIndica clone otherwise, it is feared.

The other battle that will be worth watching will be the one between the diesel Uno and Zen. Initial reports indicate that the former will be priced lower but that may not make a difference to the loyal Maruti customer who will now have the added advantage of cheap fuel. The Uno still has a lot of image building up to do and Fiat apparently plans a huge publicity campaign during the course of next month which will cover over a dozen cities in less than a month.

The Mitsubishi Lancer comes at a time when the mid-size segment looks all set to collapse. Though more illustrious names have entered the picture (the Honda City, for example) the diesel Lancer could be a winner.

In any case, the initial numbers planned during 1998-99 are just around 5,000 units -- which does not look too ambitious. But current trends in the offtake of mid-size cars is worrisome.

The diesel Astra is scheduled to make its debut during 1998-99 and would carry a price tag of over Rs 10 lakh.That would be a tall order for any customer despite the diesel bait.

In the multi-utility vehicle segment, Mahindra & Mahindra will introduce the Armada Grand at the end of this month. The vehicle is expected to be totally noise-free and devoid of all the glitches that characterised the present Armada.Telco is planning a rural variant of the Sumo with a soft top while Hindustan Motors' Rural Transport Vehicle (RTV) in collaboration with Oka of Australia makes its entry in August.

The biggest concern continues to be availability of infrastructure but that has not deterred any of these automakers from planning more and more vehicles from their stable. The fact that some categories are not doing so well has been of little consequence in a market where competition is still the buzzword.