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Abhinaba Das
Mumbai, June 13: Following the phenomenal market response to its Santro, Hyundai Motors is now devising new ways to woo the customer. The Korean chaebol is in the final stages of launching the bookings route for its 999 cc petrol-driven car.
Unlike the booking arrangement for Telco's Indica where the full price is payable upfront, customers of Santro will have to make a modest down-payment of just around Rs 1,000 to book the vehicle, and pay up the balance only at the time of delivery.
"The innovative route will enable the customer to book the car by making a token downpayment upfront. The full price can be paid only at the time of delivery, which currently is around 3-4 weeks," said Kotak Mahindra Primus chief executive officer Dipak Gupta. Kotak Mahindra Primus, the leading car financier, is working hand in hand with Hyundai Motors India on the new scheme.
Despite paying up the full price of the vehicle upfront, customers currently have to wait for 3-4 weeks to get delivery of the Santro. "The newmechanism has been tailored to ensure that it is a win-win situation for the customer," Gupta added.
The bookings route is currently explored by Telco's Indica and Fiat Uno. Although customers of Indica have to pay the full price upfront at the time of booking the vehicle, the company is paying an 11 per cent return until the car is finally delivered.
Kotak Mahindra Primus, which has been actively involved in financing Santro customers, will enter into hire-purchase agreements with buyers opting to book the vehicle. The tenure of the loan, which is yet to be finalised, may be in the region of 3-5 years. "Our financing schemes are tailored to ensure us a return of around 16.5 - 17 per cent," said Gupta.
Kotak Mahindra Primus' financing schemes, Gupta explained, are worked out based on the customer credit profile, product risk and locational aspect. "For the non-metros, for example, the cheque clearing time is taken into account and the customer ends up paying slightly higher," Gupta said.The Santro hasvirtually been on a dream run since March this year with sales galloping across all regions. At the North Capital Region, Hyundai Motors India has been selling around 3,000 vehicles a month, while in Mumbai the monthly sales are in the region of 450-500 vehicles.
During the last two months, sales of Santro have touched 4,048 units and the company is planning to sell 50,000 cars in the current financial year, despite a higher price tag following upgradation of the vehicle to make it Euro II compliant. Sales of Santro in May touched a record 4,519 units, while Matiz of competitor Daewoo Motors India sold 2,250 units during the month.
In fact, the boom in the mid-size car sales (as the definition "small" only includes the Maruti 800) during the last few months has essentially been driven by Santro, Fiat Uno and Maruti Zen. Telco, dealers say, has delivered just around 7,500 Indicas so far, and the company may end the current fiscal with sales of around 35,000 vehicles.
Copyright © 1999 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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