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HM hopeful of reaching Lancer sales target

Our Bureau

MUMBAI, Sept. 19

THE slowdown in the economy notwithstanding, Mitsubishi Lancer expects to achieve its sales target of 8,000-8,300 cars for this fiscal, according to an official of Hindustan Motors.

So far, 2,500 units of Mitsubishi Lancers have been sold during the current fiscal.

While admitting that the current slowdown has impacted the mid-size premium car market, the company is expecting a pick-up in the demand by the end of this year.

``Demand is sluggish but we are positive. Usually, the months between January and March are good for car sales,'' said Mr S. Vasudevan, General Manager - Sales and Service, Hindustan Motors. He said Mitsubishi Lancer's share in the mid-size premium car m arket rose by five per cent last month.

The company today launched `My Lancer', a programme that offers customers the facility to customise Lancers.

According to Mr Vasudevan, the company expects 15 per cent of its sales to go through the `My Lancer' programme.

Under this programme, customers can choose from a range of features including engine, colour, wheels, interior, looks and embellishments.

Mr Vasudevan said the key points of the programme were - scalable model providing scope to add features, choice of 4,000 options, options in price range and factory-fitted options.

According to company officials, Mitsubishi Lancer has three variants - GLX, SLX and SFX. The My Lancer programme is being viewed as the fourth variant.

``Customers willing to buy My Lancer just need to visit a Mitsubishi Lancer dealership, browse through the kiosk, select specifications from the options, add them to the existing models before placing the order,'' an official said. The price of this car will vary depending on the features chosen by the customer.

The car with the selected features will be produced at Hindustan Motors's Lancer plant at Tiruvallur in Tamil Nadu and delivered through the dealer within 20 days.

The My Lancer offering comes with a two-year or 40,000 km warranty. The programme had already been launched in 6-7 cities, Mr. Vasudevan said.

Picture: Mr S. Vasudevan, General Manager - Sales & Service, Hindustan Motors Ltd, displaying the new `My Lancer', a made-to-order car in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Picture by Paul Noronha