Car makers in India have been going through a rough phase in the past few months as sales have not been up to the mark. The continuous falling value of the rupee (controlled minutely now), soaring fuel prices and slowdown in demand have combined to deal a severe blow to the fortunes of car makers in India. However, just like the crisis, auto makers have also been quite persistent, continuously hoping for a turnaround sometime or the other. It is usually said that there is no time better than the festive season for a person to purchase a car in India. Now, with the festive season just around the corner, auto makers have decided to give their best shot during this time period to revive fortunes.
The month of October, usually, marks the commencement of the festive season with the auspicious Navratri. Skoda and Bentley have set the ball rolling by launching the new Octavia and Flying Spur, respectively, in this month. And according to reports, it is only the beginning of a number of introductions from several well reputed brands. Bentley, the Volkswagen Group owned brand, launched the Flying Spur at a price of 3.10 crore (ex-showroom, New Delhi) in the first week of October amidst great enthusiasm and buzz. Industry experts feel that the market for the Bentley is not going to be affected by the condition of the auto industry as the brand has an inelastic demand. One car that will get affected by market conditions is the new Skoda Octavia, which was launched by the Czech-based firm on the 3rd of October. The auto maker has not been doing well in India in the recent past and it has pinned a lot of hopes on the new Octavia to boost its cause.
Volkswagen, after recently launching the Cross Polo, is expected to introduce the Vento TSI in coming days. It is being said that the German car maker is really upping the ante in the Indian car market by launching a number of performance oriented models. Earlier, it was being said that the Vento TSI would be launched on the 3rd of October. However, sources claim that this date was postponed due to unknown reasons and the firm is yet to announce the exact day. The Indian subsidiary of the Toyota, the Japanese car maker, is all set to introduce the facelift version of the Innova in October, sources have claimed. This Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV) has been one of the forerunners in its segment and has been widely appreciated by both critics and customers. Now, by launching the facelift version, Toyota would be looking to further maintain its good performance in the MPV segment.
The Nissan Terrano has been, by far, one of the most talked about vehicles in the recent past. A compact Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV), the Terrano is the sibling of the Duster from Renault and is going to be the last product of the badge engineering policy, reports have suggested. The success of the Renault Duster and Ford EcoSport has augured well for the Terrano, which is likely to be launched in the month of October. Nissan has worked really hard to distinguish the design of the Terrano from the Duster by giving it a more stylish appearance. Also, sources close to the development have suggested that the Nissan Terrano is going to be priced higher than the Renault Duster.
Apart from these, there are a number of luxury cars that could be launched in the month of October. If reports are to be believed, then the BMW 5 Series, Range Rover Sport, Volvo XC60 and new Porsche Panamera could make their way to showrooms in India during October. With so many launches and economy showing slight signs of improvement, it is quite possible that October could be the defining month for the Indian car market this fiscal.
