HM to unveil Pajero, Lancer variants; no new launches soon
By Our Corporate Bureau | 10 Oct 2002
Bangalore:
Hindustan Motors (HM) general manager S Vasudevan says while
his company has extensive plans to improve and introduce
new variants of the existing products in its portfolio,
it has no plans to introduce any new products in India in
the near future.
Vasudevan says the Rs 1,600-crore company is planning to introduce a 1.8-litre variant of the Lancer, priced at around Rs 11 lakh, in the second quarter of 2003. “The company already has a number of products in the market and there is this danger of losing focus if we have too many products to handle.”
Recently
the company launched a sports utility vehicle, the 3.2-litre
Pajero GLX, which is available in Bangalore, New Delhi,
Mumbai, Chennai and Chandigarh. He says HM has received
orders for 32 Pajeros. “We are looking at selling
25 units of the Pajero GLX and 40 units of the ordinary
Pajero every month in India. HM plans to launch a slightly
more affordable 2.8-litre version of the Pajero; it will
be priced at around Rs 25 lakh.”
HM
plans to employ personal selling strategies such as direct
mailers and personal presentations to market the car.
It is also contemplating other innovative marketing strategies.
“The idea is to cater to a niche market,” says
a company official.
For the Mitsubishi Lancer, HM has established a customer-relation department called, Lancer Family Circle, which gets in touch with customers once in four months. In addition, the company has also introduced a Lancer Club.
