Daewoo India to launch luxury car

The Rs 1,300 crore (provisional turnover) Daewoo Motors India Ltd, has decided to roll out a new luxury mid-sized car by the end of this year. "This is in line with the industry trend and the additional investments needed for manufacturing 10,000 units per annum on tooling will be around Rs 100 crore," says S.G. Awasthi, chairman, Daewoo Motors India.

While that is for the future, Daewoo Motors is busy adding value to its existing models. The company has launched the country's first factory-fitted compressed natural gas (CNG) cars -- Cielo CNG, Nexia Deluxe and 2000 Matiz.

Speaking about the Cielo CNG car, Awasthi says that the company will be focussing on the commercial and corporate segments having large fleets. "Priced at Rs 5.72 lakh (ex-showroom Mumbai), the bi-fuel, Ceilo CNG's operational costs are just 30 per cent of the petrol versions," says Byung Soh Min, deputy managing director, communication & services division. The CNG version of Cielo will initially be available in Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Surat and Ankaleshwar, where CNG stations are currently present.

The company's other new offering, Nexia Deluxe, is powered by a 1.5 DOHC engine with higher compression ratio for better overall performance. The additional features that have been added are a beige interior key colour, wood grain finish, beige velour seat covers, carpet floor mats, beige roof lining and leather steering wheel cover. The changes in the exterior are a new design chrome grille, new body side moulding, chrome door handle and optional alloy wheels.

Similarly in the case with 2000 Matiz, the company's new offering. The value addition is in its M-Tec engine (Magic and Maximum Power Technology) which is more responsive,     providing better acceleration, power and performance in city driving conditions, as well as fuel economy. "The fuel economy will increase by 15 per cent in city driving and 5-6 per cent in highway driving," says Min.

Interestingly, all these value additions come without any additional costs for the buyer, unlike Daewoo's competitors' practice of offering value additions at a higher price. It may be noted, the company does not charge extra for metallic colours unlike others.

"We didn't increase the prices of our Euro II compliant cars. Offering value additions at the same price level is our philosophy." Awasthi.

1999-2000 has been really good for the company remarks (see Last year was good for Daewoo).Daewoo Motors nearly tripled its turnover and is improving its market share. And that has its natural impact(see Awasthi hits out at Hyundai India). In an increasingly competitive car market, Daewoo has come in for a good share of comparative advertising hits.