Hyderabad, Oct 18: If the initial response to the automobile deluge which has hit the town is anything to go by, the Hyderabadis' yen for the small car is set to take everyone by surprise. While the two Hyundai dealers in the city have bagged over 1,000 of the 1,200-odd bookings in the entire state, and a fifth of the 5061 fully-paid bookings in the south. Daewoo Matiz is hoping for anything between 2,500 and 3,000 bookings for the small car, though uncertainty shrouds its launch date.The rush should not come as a surprise, given the Hyderabadi's propensity to spend on automobiles. For instance, city businessmen reportedly lapped up as many as 75 Mercedes E Types on the very first day of the launch.In fact, dealers felt these numbers would have been even larger, but for the much-awaited launch of the Telco Indica, slated for December.
Interestingly, Hyundai Motors too has decided to delay its second round of bookings for the Santro to late December to gauge the response to the small car Indica from theTata group, industry sources said.
Worst-hit is the second-hand car market for the Maruti. Several dealers in the city have begun advertising instant deliveries, offloading stocks. Maruti will be most affected by the entry of the new cars, says Subash C Metha, president of the Andhra Pradesh Automobile Dealers Association. ``They will make inroads into Maruti's monopoly'', he said.
While a 1996 Zen is going for anything between Rs 2.40 lakh and Rs 2.70 lakh, the price for a January 1998 Maruti 800 standard has dropped to about Rs 2.2 lakh.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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