The Lancer was scheduled for an August 15 entry, but dealers here said further testing of the car resulted in a marginal delay. In terms of price, it will almost be at par with the Ford Escort's petrol and diesel versions and marginally less expensive than the Opel Astra. Mumbai dealers hope to clock sales of 200 cars a month which would mean that the total numbers sold in the city till March 31, 1999 will be around 1,500 units.

The Lancer is being manufactured at Hindustan Motor's Tiruvallore plant near Chennai in technical collaboration with Mitsubishi Motor Corporation of Japan. The Japanese company has the option of taking a 10 per cent equity stake in the venture and is still to exercise this. However, Hindustan Motors officials say this is of little significance as the car will still be among the finest in design and technology.

While the petrol engine has a 1.5-litre capacity, the diesel engine's capacity is 2 litres. Experts reckon the latter will do better as the growing trend of late is a marked inclination towards diesel. The fact that petrol has become more dearer after the budget may translate into the diesel craze intensifying in the days to come.

This has been especially apparent in the sales of the Escort diesel which virtually swamped the petrol model and forced Mahindra Ford to introduce the 1.6-litre Zetec. Even General Motors India is getting ready with the 1.7 litre diesel Astra which will be priced close to Rs 10 lakh. Recent reports have, similarly, indicated that Honda-Siel is working on a diesel engine for the Honda City, whose petrol version is already doing well. Maruti Udyog is planning to dieselise the Esteem with the Peugeot TUD5 engine and by the turn of the century, the entire mid-size car segment will have diesel alternatives for the consumer.

As for the Lancer, dealers say it is a sound product that will be devoid of deficiencies. However, the moot point is whether the car will do well considering that there has been a complete slowdown in the mid-size category and except for the Esteem and City, none of the other models has made an impact. In the case of the Escort and Astra, their average sales have been a cause for concern and both their manufacturers have been forced to cut back production targets.