Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL), the Korean auto maker, has devised a very innovative strategy in order to boost the sales of its premium luxury Sonata sedan by offering its new buyers a Samsung Galaxy Note smartphone free with the car.
The Samsung smartphone Galaxy Note is available in mobile stores at a price tag of Rs. 30,000 that could also mean that the Korean auto major has cut down the Sonata sedan's price by the aforementioned amount for the domestic buyers.
The Indian festival season is just round the corner and most of the car companies are leaving no stone unturned in pushing the sales of their products in the country. Hyundai, Maruti Suzuki, Chevrolet and Honda among others are offering great discounts and freebies to the new buyers, besides doling out free insurance, exchange and loyalty bonuses. Maruti Suzuki, the country's largest passenger car manufacturer, has declared great discounts on its popular hatchbacks like Alto, A-Star, Ritz and Swift. Following the trend, Chevrolet did the same with its petrol variants of Spark and Beat hatchbacks.
HMIL, the country's second largest passenger car maker, aspires to drive the Indian buyers towards its stores with the new aggressive campaign. Despite its stunning and futuristic interior and exterior attributes, the Sonata sedan failed to propel the sales for the company in the domestic market. The premium saloon's limited availability in only petrol guise could be held responsible for its limited sales apart from the poor economic climate and piling inventories, which has affected HMIL, just like most of the car companies in the Indian market. Hyundai is also offering heavy discounts on its small car Eon and i10. Like Hyundai, its Japanese rival, Honda Motors India has also announced discounts amounting to Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 50,000 on its products, such as the Brio hatchback and City saloon.
The present generation of Hyundai Sonata comes with all the trimmings of a premium luxury sedan in the country but the lack of a diesel variant is a serious drawback for driving its sales. Currently, Hyundai offers the Sonata sedan with both manual and automatic transmission variants, and retails the vehicle at Rs. 18,52,979 for the manual and at Rs. 20,61,272 for automatic, (ex-showroom prices in New Delhi). The Sonata sedan has been put by the company in a direct face off against the likes of Honda Accord, Nissan Teana, Volkswagen Passat and Skoda Superb. The latest offer available with the Sonata is expected to drive the Indian car buyers towards Hyundai stores, while the Samsung Galaxy Note definitely conforms to the sheer class of the product
