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Our Corporate Bureau
New Delhi, Nov 4: Daewoo Motors India Ltd (DMIL) has dropped plans to launch three versions of its small car Matiz, and has instead settled for one loaded version priced at Rs 3.55 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).
Managing director SG Awasthi told reporters that "the Indian subsidiary will be the second global export base outside Korea and 50 per cent of the Matiz will be exported".
The 796cc car will be available with features including heating, air-conditioning, ventilation, power windows and central locking. The Matiz deluxe has an ex-factory price of Rs 3.28 lakh.
The pricing of the 796cc car puts it in direct competition with Maruti's 993-cc Zen and Hyundai's 999-cc Santro deluxe. While Zen is priced at Rs 3.46 lakh ex-showroom, Santro deluxe versions carry a price tag of Rs 3.49 lakh (ex-showroom) and Rs 3.69 lakh.
Maruti 800, the largest selling car in the country, thereby remains untouched by any competition on the price front in the small car segment. Daewoo has been claiming that Matiz's 800 ccengine generates 52-bhp power, almost same as the 1000-cc Zen and slightly lower than Hyundai Santro.
Daewoo has set a target of 10,000 to 12,000 cars by March 1998 and 40,000-50,000 units in 1999-2000.
The company decided against launching three variants, Awasthi said, adding "we do not believe in stripping down models in the name of economy as it compromises on value and in the long run harms both the consumer and the manufacturer".
DMIL has entered into an arrangement with Countrywide and ICICI for private label financing of the Matiz. Besides, it has also tied up with six non-banking finance companies -- American Express, Bank of America, Citi Bank, Kotak Mahindra, Standard Chartered and Sundaram Finance.
The company would not be taking the booking route for Matiz. Direct order acceptance for the car would start on November 12 through the 102 Matiz dealers in 86 cities and deliveries would commence from November 16. Daewoo will accept only 3,000 orders initially. Once these have been serviced, thecompany will start fresh orders.
The company has reserved 1500 Matiz for Cielo owners and 500 for women customers.
According to the company, the pricing and the decision to launch one loaded version is based on an extensive study conducted on 3,000 target group consumers in different cities by a research agency.
With an installed capacity of 72,000 cars per annum at the Surajpur plant, the company intends to sell 12,000 units of Matiz by March 1999 and 60,000 units in the next year. Beyond 2001, the company intends to sell one lakh cars per annum.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
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