• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

S. Muralidhar

`CUT-PRICE' competition in the passenger car industry is again setting leading market players like Maruti Udyog and Hyundai Motor India to rejig their product portfolios by putting them through another round of price and value repositioning. In the case of General Motors, the new variant also sports a spanking new engine. The new, smaller-engine Chevrolet Optra is surely a more serious attempt. But the idea is the same: To expand the target audience and market reach for the car.

Variants, at least temporarily, lead to a rise in sales, because they serve to meet the aspirations of some customers who may not be able to afford the higher trim-level, loaded model. A look at three such new variants that were put out into the market recently.

Smaller engine, price tag, but the same car!

GM held back the 1.6-litre variant as surprise right from the time it launched the 1.8 litre Chevrolet Optra. While original plans included the launch of the smaller engine also, logistics could not be put in place for a simultaneous release.

The new Chevrolet Optra 1.6 comes in two trim-levels. With its larger size, higher levels of refinement and value, it clearly aims to wean away customers from the new Honda City and the older Mitsubishi Lancer and Hyundai Accent. Compared to the Optra 1.8 that featured the 1,799cc, D-TEC, DOHC, 16-valves Holden engine, the new variant sports the 1,599cc, E-TEC II, DOHC GM Korea mill. Both are 16-valve, four cylinder in-line, multi-point fuel injected engines.

The new GM Korea engine generates a respectable 104PS of peak power at 5,800rpm, compared to the 115PS of maximum power that the 1.8-litre engine generates. Maximum torque at 148Nm is also respectable for an engine that is about 300cc lesser than the 1.8-litre Holden engine which generates a shade higher peak torque of 156Nm at 4,000rpm.

Going by the specs given by GM, the new variant's kerb weight equals the 1.8-litre version. The new version, however, does not come with an automatic transmission option. The 1.6-litre engine feels as refined as the 1.8-litre. The new Optra 1.6 is obviously targeted at the mileage conscious, largely city user. While it lives up to this expectation and behaves spotlessly in city driving conditions, we missed the 11-odd horses that it falls short of compared to the Holden engine when we hit the highway. The new Optra was panting when put the car through its paces amongst speedier highway traffic.

However, the lower power is a drag on the Optra 1.6 only in the first three gears. Once the car slips into overdrive on the fourth or fifth, the difference is hardly noticeable. As a result, overtaking on the highways may be a tad more difficult with the 1.6 litre.

The five-speed manual transmission has been retained from the older version. The gearbox is well matched with the engine, but gear shift slotting continues to be a shade rough. Radical, forward-shift-style slotting for the reverse gear also takes some getting used to.

GM has retained many of the premium features of the 1.8 litre variant in the new 1.6, making it a fairly compelling value proposition. This includes the Blaupunkt music system and high quality plastic, dual tone dashboard (with wood finish on central panel and door trims).

Fit and finish quality for the Optra 1.6 continues to be top-notch with high quality interiors, switches and knobs. But the continued positioning of the headlamp and turn indicator lever to the left of the steering wheel is a nagging feature.

Starting with a price tag of Rs 7.48 lakh, the Optra 1.6 is about Rs 50,000 lower than the entry-level 1.8 litre variant. It should be an attractive option for buyers in the premium mid-size segment, who do not mind their car being a shade less powerful.

We are like that only!

Remember the Japanese and the German arguing with each other in the Ba-le-no ad, about whether the Suzuki offering is more European or Japanese in its styling and performance. Well, the car has arguably acquired another nationality's characteristics with the launch of the new, lower priced LXi variant. After all, price repositioning, for whatever reason, is fast becoming a uniquely Indian concept.

The Baleno LXi, with its new `competition killing' price of about Rs 5.6 lakh (ex-showroom), is a new variant of one of the country's first premium mid-size sedans. Though originally launched to take on competition from the likes of the Mitsubishi Lancer and the Opel Astra, the car never really took off from Maruti Udyog's (MUL) dealerships in big numbers.

And so, after a futile wait for the car to sell at its premium price positioning, MUL has decided to kick start sales by offering a cheaper variant. The new Baleno LXi has been stripped of some of the features that the higher end variants, but is still benchmarked with the other entry-level C-segment cars in terms of what it has to offer. As a result, while it competes with the Ford Ikon and the Hyundai Accent in pricing, it is still attempting to offer `more car' (in terms of size) than the others.

The new variant retains the 1,590 cc, all-aluminium 16-valve engine of the Baleno, with the same maximum output (94 bhp) and maximum torque (132 Nm). Other features in the car that have been retained include anti-submarine seats, tilt steering, central locking, electrically adjustable outside rear-view mirrors, power steering and power windows.

The Baleno LXi is supposed to have been developed after receiving feedback from customers. The new pricing is also said to have been made possible after the reduction in import duties announced by the Government earlier this year. The company has passed on the benefit of the reduced cost of importing components for the Baleno.

Vivacious new diesel

With a wave of new variants hitting the market, can Hyundai be far behind? The company, which has tried every technique listed in the marketing manual to expand the reach for its cars, has just added another potential winner to its portfolio.

After redefining the mid-size diesel car segment with the latest in diesel engine and injection technology, Hyundai has now come up with the Accent Viva CRDi.

The extremely successful, very respected common rail direct injection diesel engine from the original Accent has now been shoehorned into the slightly smaller and sportier sibling — the Accent Viva. The Accent Viva, if you remember, is the notch back version of the original full-size sedan Accent.

In the Viva CRDi (priced ex-showroom at Rs 6.55 lakh), Hyundai has managed to lob off about 50 grand from the price of the Accent CRDi, while offering as much features, comfort and drivability of the original.

The CRDi diesel option being given in the Viva is meant to wean away customers from the petrol-driven new Honda City and to offer the younger Accent customer the economy of diesel without sacrificing the sportiness and the drivability of the car.

The Viva CRDi has the same, extremely refined Detroit Diesel engine that came with the original Accent. The 1.5-litre, three cylinder in-line, 12-valve, SOHC diesel engine pumps out a maximum 82 bhp at 4,000 rpm.

Though Hyundai lists the same weight for the Viva CRDi as the full-sized Accent, we think that it will boast of a slightly higher power to weight ratio.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication

Stories in this Section
Quiz

Copyright © 2004, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line