Maruti Swift Diesel version released

Maruti has been talking about a diesel Swift for sometime now. It is now available and comes with a price tag starting from 4.68 lakhs. The diesel engine uses CRDi technology, which means that it will be sufficiently sophisticated to feel like a petrol engine.

The swift website has some details of the diesel version. But I searched for a long time and could not find the engine specifications(horsepower, capacity) on the site or in the press release. I wonder why! But this site says that it is a 75bhp engine, which is excellent for a diesel engine, and also justifies the price tag. Also see a detailed review at The Hindu Business Line

The New Zen Estilo Ad

Most of you would have seen the ad of Zen Estilo on tv, where everything and everyone is depicted as boring boxes and then comes the Zen Estilo, making a 'style statement'. The first time I was watching it, I wondered and tried to predict what could be the product. I could figure it out before the car turned up on the screen, but next, I wondered what purpose does the ad serve. Let us do some analysis.

First, lets look at what did the advertiser want to achieve with the ad. Naturally Maruti's ultimate aim would be to have their car sell well. If it was an existing and popular product, and people already know about it, an ad needs to serve the purpose of giving a good brand recall. Say, if the ad was for an Alto or Wagon R, people already know about the product. And if a viewer is bombarded with adverts, when he decides to buy a car, he will remember to check out the Alto or Wagon R too.

But the Zen Estilo is new, and is not known to the viewer. So an ad has to serve the purpose of -
a. Introducing the new product to the viewer
b. Educate him of the benefits of the car, and tell him why he should buy it.

So if you have an ad that praised the economy that the Estilo could offer, its low price, smooth ride, or such features that would make a potential buyer think of adding the Estilo to his list of cars to checkout. But the ad does not make any effort in that direction.

Now, even if we consider Zen as an old brand in new avatar, lets see if the ad serves to provide a good brand recall. Brand recall happens when you make an ad that people sit up and notice, like the Hutch ad. Or when you add some nice jingles that make people sing it even when the ad is out from the screen, or with something silly, or by getting celebrities to endorse it and such tactics. The Zen ad doesn't do any of this. Okay, lets forget all the formulas and agree that it's a new 'concept' ad and it might get noticed. If you were told that you are a miserable boring person(or 'dabba') and you can uplift yourself only by getting inside a Zen, do you think you would consider doing just that? Unlikely isn't it? The Estilo ad is trying just that. It tries to call everyone a looser unless you are in the Estilo. Marketers know that such ads have never had a long term positive effect on a product, and if it is a new product, things could be even worse.

Next, lets look at where does the ad try to place the car. It talks about making a 'style statement'. How many car buyers in this segment really look at making a 'style statement' with their car? Although I can't say with numbers and figures that might be arrived out of a survey, personal experience tells me that most small car buyers want better pricing, fuel economy and low maintenance cost. Sadly, though Zen servers all these needs, it is not highlighted. This is debatable though, and I have to give some credit for the idea of 'style statement'. The erstwhile Zen was known as a pretty and stylish car and was known for its good looks, and Maruti may be trying to fill the void created by it. But is the car really worth such a marketing effort is another question they need to ask themselves.

Luckily Maruti, and the Zen are in a position to attract buyers no matter how good or bad its advertisement turns out. Maruti is a well established brand, and being a small, economy car, Zen has a market of ready buyers. But some good marketing could do a bit more to improve its sales.

Cars launched in 2006

Economic Times has a quick roundup on cars that were launched in 2006. The list has the new cars like Civic, Zen Estilo and Verna, but some variants like the New Wagon R, New CRV also have sneaked into the list. I wonder why. See the article here.

Improved Tata Indica

Tata Motors have launched 2007 edition of Indica, with some cosmetic changes.

It could be a minor variant, but I really appreciate the way Tata Motors has been constantly making improvements in Indica. The first Indica made some decent sales, but there were plenty of complaints in the area of reliability. It did not take too long for them to realize the problems and come up with Indica V2 which was praised for the improvements and quickly accepted. Since then, Tatas are having a good run with Indica, but have always been making improvements frequently. Launching Indicab was a smart move in pushing sales, though I think the image created by Indicab kept private buyers away from Indica. Xeta was a milestone in petrol version of Indica, in trying to push sales of Indica with younger lot. It is doing well too, and Indica is slowly gaining some acceptance even with people who were initially averse to it. They kept making small changes and improvements time and again, and the new version is just one of them.

The way Tata Motors is going in India and also in many third world countries, and the way they have been acquiring new companies and technologies from all over the world, I have a hunch that they could become one of the important automobile companies in the world in next ten years. Ratan Tata is indeed aiming at it, and I wish them for good days ahead.

Good old Amby is turning 50!

India's iconic car Ambassador is probably the oldest surviving car in the world. It still manages to sell 13,000 units every year, and looks like Hindustan Motors has no plans to discontinue it!

Surprising, HM's website makes no mention of it. But business standard has an interesting article which looks back at the 50 years of the Ambassador.

Car Prices set to Increase

December was the month when nearly every one was offering discounts to meet their year end targets. Now that 2006 is left behind, most car makers are looking to increase prices in a week or two. Some hike new here:

* Honda is increasing the price of Civic by Rs.12,000 and City prices will go up by Rs.5,000 to 8,000.
* Tata Motors increases the price of Safari by Rs.10,000 to 15,000 and Sumo by Rs.5,000.
* Hyundai to increase Verna price by Rs.3,500 to Rs.10,000, but is going to reduce prices in Tamil Nadu.
* Ford Fiesta is going to be costlier by Rs.10,000 and Endeavour by Rs.15,000, and Maruti may hike prices of Zen Estilo though it is not yet confirmed.

So be prepared to shell out a few more thousands if you are planning to buy a car now. Even if you book today, you might still have to pay more, since the price you pay will be the price on the day of delivery and not on the day of booking.

Honda Civic is CNBC autocar car of the year 2007

Honda Civic has bagged CNBC Autocar Car of the year award. The contenders for this award include the new variants of older cars too, which meant there were many cars, and also many awards. Infact the number of awards doled out is more than the number of cars launched in 2006! See the entire list of winners here. The Bike of the year award was bagged by Bajaj Pulsar DTS-Fi.

Aveo UV-A is BS Motoring Car of the Year 2007

Chevy Aveo UV-A has bagged BS Motoring car of the year awards. Other contenders for the trophy were Honda Civic, Lancer Cedia, Maruti Zen Estilo, Hyundai Verna and Aveo sedan. Chevy Aveo UV-A was launched only in the later of half of December and barely managed to get into the list of contenders. It is surprising that UV-A beat Civic to grab the award, but car awards in India usually tend to lean towards the smaller cars which are more practical for India.

The jury agreed that Civic is the best of the lot that they tested and was superior to all other cars, but it looses out in practicality and economy. The UV-A received decent scores in all parameters despite not arriving at the top in any category. BS Motoring says -

The secret is that the U-VA did consistently well in all the parameters without emerging too strong in any single one. The performance may not be exceptional, especially when looked at it in sterile 0 to 60 kph or 0 to 100 kph terms, yet its little 1150cc motor surprised the jury with its spunky, cheerful attitude. And the best part is that it's an efficient engine that's miserly with the unleaded.

Read more about it on BS-Motoring website.

Mahindra, Renault, Logan and lower C class

Ford Ikon, Maruti Esteem and Tata Indigo - sedans, or cars with boot that cost around Rs.5 lakh, are what could be classified in India as lower C segment. The upper C segment spans to cars like Fiesta, Aveo and City.

Have you noticed that except the Tatas who don't have many choices under their umbrella, manufacturers are paying little attention to these cars lately? Esteem has gone old and is begging for a replacement, but is still donning the road. Ford Fiesta was meant to replace Ikon, but there was such a big price gap between them that Ford decided to keep both cars. General Motor's Opel Corsa was phased out by Chevrolet Aveo. Another car that costs a little more - Hyundai Accent was globally replaced by Verna but Accent lingers on in India.

Most car companies are looking at the pricier section of the sedan market with cars costing more than 6-7 lakhs ex-showroom and neglecting the ones that cost around 5 lakhs. Reasons could be many. When GM phased out Corsa or Hyundai introduced Verna, they were only imitating their parent companies' actions. That automatically meant introducing a bigger car, whether or not it suits India. We must also admit that more and more people are buying larger cars in India and there is a growing market for these cars. There is also a new segment of premium hatchbacks like Maruti Swift and Hyundai Getz that cost the same as smaller sedans but are newer, more nimble, more advanced and easy for driving in the congested city roads. These could eat up a portion of the market share enjoyed by lower C segment.

But does that mean there is a bigger market for those big cars than the smaller one? Does that mean premium hatchbacks can eat up the market of lower C class cars? Numbers say otherwise. Tata Indigo, the latest of the cars in this segment is still doing good, and sells more than the cars in upper C segment. It also sells more than Getz but less than Swift. Infact, if you exclude smaller hatchback cars, Indigo is one of the top selling cars in India(Nov-06 sales figures). If Ikon and Esteem do not have such numbers, it is simply because they are dated.

In fact there is a small void opening up in this segment, with little competition to Indigo. No one seems to be in a hurry to fill this void either. Ford, Maruti, GM or any other company has no plans to bring in new models in this market at the moment. That's where Mahindras seem to have seen a window of opportunity.

Introducing Renault Logan seems to make perfect sense in every aspects. India has a booming car market, and there are many people willing to upgrade from a small hatchback or buy an inexpensive sedan as their first car. And this segment of the market has little competition unlike the crowded upper C segment or the small cars. It also gives a good opportunity for Mahindras to enter car market and for Renault to enter India. And more than everything, it gives the consumer an option to buy a newer car instead of a stale Esteen or an Ikon.

If Logan meets some basic expectations in terms of cost of buying and ownership, performance and maintenance, it could be a big hit with the consumer. The word now is that the Logan will be priced below 5 lakhs and that seems to be a perfect number. We have to wait for a few more months before we see what Logan can do to our car market.