Dealers say the vehicle's high price (on-road of Rs 5.3 lakh in Mumbai) has been a major deterrent. "There is no way the Zen D can hope to notch impressive sales with this price tag," they say. While Maruti Udyog officials were unavailable for comments, it is reliably learnt that the company is not unduly concerned for the present.

There are two reasons for this. The first, and most obvious, is that the car has been in the market for barely a month and, hence, it is too early to pass any judgment on its long-term prospects. Second, Maruti Udyog (MUL) was categorical from the beginning that it was more concerned about the petrol version of the Zen, which is doing "fabulously well" withmonthly sales hovering around the 7,000-mark.

"Experience has shown that with the recent consumer preference for diesel, a petrol sibling of a car always suffers," experts say. A classic case is the Ford Escort and, more recently, the diesel Uno, which, going by market reports, is threatening to put its petrol counterpart in the background.

MUL's strategy, according to insiders, was simple and straight forward. Since there was no going back on its dieselisation agenda, the company decided that a conservative approach was the best bet. There was (and the situation remains the same) no competition for the petrol Zen in the market and, ironically, the real threat emanated from its diesel version. The ideal solution was to deliberately cut production numbers, so that consumers would not make a mad scramble for the Zen D.

"Looking at it from that point of view, MUL has really not lost out," experts say. They concede the company could have worked out a better price tag for the car. In Mumbai alone, it isdearer than the Fiat Uno by nearly Rs 1 lakh. So was it worth MUL's while to source 10,000 engines from Peugeot Citroen Motors and then confine production?

There are no clear answers yet. The more worrying factor is that the petrol version of the Zen faces competition from the recently launched Hyundai Santro, which is aggressively priced and promises plenty. Though a category of consumers are not pleased with the car's looks, it is only a matter of time before they get used to it. The bottomline, by the end of the day, is reliability, and that is where the Santro could score.

MUL may have to do some serious re-thinking during the next few months, which will see the launch of the Daewoo Matiz and Tata Indica. There is speculation that the Matiz will be as costly as the Maruti 800, while in Indica's case, public expectations are very high, and Telco can be sure of an overwhelming response.

MUL will then need to address key issues like pricing for the 800 and Zen (petrol), while redefining its prioritiesfor the diesel exercise. Auto analysts said the company would do well to focus the TUD5 engine for the Gypsy and Esteem where the diesel advantage would be significant. Peugoet Citroen will supply 10,000 engines in 1999 also, which would mean a comfortable supply backlog for the MUL vehicle range, as barely 2,000 units will be used for the Zen this year.