The diesel price hike by Rs. 5 has not curbed the strong aim of Utility Vehicle (UV) manufacturers as most of them are still set to spark their new launches in the Indian auto market. Reportedly, the buyers will get to see the launches of around six to seven Sports Utility Vehicle (SUVs) and Multi Purpose Vehicles (MPVs) in near future.
Auto makers like Tata Motors, Nissan, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), Ford and General Motors are all busy in framing launch plans of their new UVs. Most of the new models will fall in a price range of Rs. 6 to 11 lacs, which will surely pull away the buyers from premium hatchback and entry-level sedan segment. On this, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Nissan Motor India, Takayuki Ishida, quoted, “We are upbeat about the growth of UVs. The diesel price increase may have some immediate impact, but we are very hopeful that the festival season will help boost sales.”
By the end of this month, Nissan will be launching a new vehicle Evalia in the Indian market, which according to Takayuki is “an urban-class utility vehicle.”
Justifying the contradicting move of auto makers, President, Automotive with M&M, Pawan Goenka, said, “Despite the price hike, we will go ahead with our planned launches. If at all there is an effect of the price hike, it may be of people switching back to petrol hatchbacks and entry level sedans; but this won't happen in the UV space as there are hardly any petrol alternatives.”
Reportedly, the largest UV maker of the country (M&M) will bring its compact SUV, Quanto, in the daylight on September 20, 2012, which will be first such model in the company's portfolio. The model will be strategically priced, enabling the company to cash on the likes of premium hatchbacks and entry-level sedans. Following the launch of Quanto, the company is also looking ahead to introduce a premium SUV, Rexton, which is developed by its completely owned auto company, Ssangyong.
Industry experts believe that the new model from Mahindra-Ssangyong will be priced close to Rs. 20 lacs and is expected to hit the Indian shores somewhere around six months down the line. Following the league of launches, the largest auto company of the country, Tata Motors is also set to introduce a new avatar of Safari, Safari Storme, before the end of September 2012. The car is designed on the platform of Aria crossover and thus, is expected to strike the right chords with the hearts of Indian buyers.
The American auto maker, Ford Motors is also expected to roll out a new compact SUV, EcoSport before the end of fiscal 2013. General Motors is also preparing for the launch of its much hyped Enjoy MPV, which is designed by its Chinese partner, SAIC Motor Corporation.
Analysts believe that the launch of a six to seven new vehicles in the Indian market will bring in around 1.5 lac extra UVs on roads in the next 12 months. Presently, somewhere around 1.8 million UVs are plying over the Indian roads that clearly show the penchant of Indian buyers towards big-sized vehicles.
