DMIL managing director SG Awasthi said, "Customers will be able to virtually open the doors of the various models and get a feel of the interiors on our website." The company's website (daewooindia.com) is currently operational but isn't interactive.

Prospective buyers will also be able to place their orders and, at a later stage, even make payments online.

While DMIL doesn't expect large sales volumes from the web portal (like in the United States where a large amount of the car business is moving online), Awasthi is upbeat on the potential of the Internet. "Delivery and response (to customer enquiries) will improve, which is more important than the marketing response," he said.

Pricing and other details for online buyerswere still being worked out, he said, adding that the existing channel of dealers would continue to be the backbone of the company's marketing strategy.

DMIL, with its 101 dealers nationwide and another 100 authorised service centres, is planning on strengthening its network. This will involve intensive training of the dealer and service staff at the company's facility at Surajpur, Noida, near New Delhi.

Daewoo India deputy managing director for marketing Byung-Soh, Min said there were no immediate plans to expand the dealer network since most of the prime auto markets had been tapped.

He said the car-buyers' market was around 4 million people spread over 90 cities in the country -- where DMIL has already established its presence.

"We don't want to advertise that we have a service centre in Leh, merely as a publicity gimmick," added DMIL general manager for marketing Anuj Pattanaik taking an oblique potshot at Maruti.

The idea is to offer `very high customer service standards' along with schemeslike a free `annual health check-up' plan for the vehicles, Pattanaik said. DMIL recently had an anniversary binge with free holidays given to its customers as part of the celebrations.

On the export front, Daewoo India has despatched 50-odd Matiz to Sri Lanka with more lined up for neighbouring countries. Awasthi, however, was categorical in his assertion that the domestic customer came first. "We won't export at the expense of the domestic market," he said.

In fact, the sudden upsurge in demand for Matiz (it shot up by 25 per cent over the last three months) resulted in export shipments being postponed by 6 weeks, Awasthi said.

In July '99, Daewoo India car sales rose to 2801 units up from 1005 units in April (see chart).

A feather in DMIL's cap was the export of 30,000 engines and gearboxes to Daewoo Korea which were planted in cars destined for the United States. With obvious pride, Awasthi said it spoke of the levels of quality achieved by the Indian subsidiary over a relatively short span oftime that key components made here were being used for the western markets.