Mumbai: India's first designer car site designercars.com, a venture of Mahindra Auto Specialities (the wholly-owned subsidiary of Mahindra & Mahindra), will get into top gear during the next few days. The company has also launched a new vehicle, Rumbler, a double cab pick up sports utility vehicle through the site in addition to Quadro which was launched some time ago. Says Mahindra Auto specialities managing director Jaideep R Devare: "The site will be one of the media to reach our customers. Additionally, M&M will link up all its dealers in the next few months. The company will also set up Internet kiosks in some of the dealer offices.""The company aims to make the site into one of the largest designer car sites in India. The glitches in the site will be removed by the end of the week and we will also be tying up with a music channel to promote the site. However the media plans have not been finalised," he says.
According to Devare, the company will not solely concentrate on the Web as customers need to "see and touch" the vehicle before they buy. A standard version will be on display so that the customer can get a feel of the vehicle.
The Rumbler can be designed on the Web by the customer, as also the standard version of the recently launched Quadro. The sports utility vehicle is a modified version of "The Utility" -a double-cab pick-up version. Says Devare, "The Rumbler can be modified by the customer any way he wants to. Through our offerings like Rumbler and Quadro, we are giving the customer the "power of choice"- by allowing him to decide what he wants as per his budget."
M&M will also launch a petrol version of the Rumbler which will have a pick-up of around 80 to 82 bhp. "The company is in talks with a leading Indian car manufacturer for the petrol engine. We will be concentrating on this engine and once the deal is through, we will be push this product," adds Devare.
The standard version of the Quadro can already be configured by the customer according to his own requirements. "The cost of the vehicle will be slightly over Rs 9 lakhs. Both alumnium and steel have been used which will make the vehicle lighter. Though the Quadro is expensive, it is targeted at only the niche segment. This category of customers want to show off their lifestyle and money is not an issue with them," says Devare. Depending on the type of customisation required by the customer, the delivery of the vehicle will take four to eight weeks-the standard version taking the maximium at around eight weeks.
Adds Devare, "These vehicles are handmade and therefore delivery will take time. If the customisation is done from our shopping list itself then we will be able to deliver the vehicle within four to six weeks."Mahindra & Mahindra will also launch a Euro-II version engine for the Quadro in the near future. It is currently firming up plans to launch it in the export market after sprucing up its engine
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