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| GM sees 42% sales rise next year |
| Danny Goodman / New Delhi Dec 27, 2009, 00:33 IST |
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Expects volumes to rise with new small car Beat.
General Motors (GM), the fifth-largest car manufacturer by annual sales in the domestic market, hopes to sell over 100,000 cars next financial year, on the back of the recent success of the Cruze, launched in September this year and anticipated sales from the soon-to-be-introduced Beat compact car.
Both the Cruze and the Beat are part of GM’s 300 series design platform and are marketed worldwide. In 2008-09, the company sold close to 62,000 units of cars and utility vehicles. This year, the company is hoping to sell at least 70,000 cars, especially after the launch of the Beat next month.
“In the two months since the Cruze was launched (it became available in the domestic market in October), the executive model has become a segment leader, overtaking established players like the Toyota Altis, Skoda Laura and the Honda Civic. We have sold over 1,300 units in two months and expect to maintain this momentum. Further, we expect the Beat, which will be launched in January, to fetch us greater volumes. These two models will be game changers for GM. This will help us achieve a total sales of 100,000 units next year,” says Ankush Arora, vice-president (sales & marketing), GM India.
Industry analysts say the Chevrolet Cruze, which was launched in September this year, has proved to be a success primarily due to the superior features and styling it incorporates and its aggressive pricing, which is cheaper by Rs 1-2 lakh than competing models.
The Cruze, which is available only in two diesel versions, is priced between Rs 11 lakh and Rs 12.45 lakh. This makes it more attractive than Toyota’s Altis petrol car, which is priced at Rs 11 lakh. It is also cheaper than the Honda Civic (petrol) and the Skoda Laura (diesel), which cost Rs 14 lakh. Arora hopes to sell over 500 units of the Cruze each month, which will add up to the volumes.
The upcoming Beat compact car will be the third small car for the company. At present, GM has the Spark and the U-VA compact cars, which are priced between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 5 lakh.
“The sharp lines that give the Beat its wedged appearance is unique in styling and will attract its own set of customers who are looking for the novelty factor,” says Pradeep Saxena, vice-president (automotive practice), TNS Global.
Arora also maintains that, styling-wise, the Beat is unmatched by other compact car models available in the market.
“It is bold, aggressive and shares many design characteristics with the Cruze,” he says. The Beat will be priced between Rs 4 lakh Rs 5 lakh and will compete with Maruti’s Swift & Ritz and Hyundai’s i10 (Kappa variant). Maruti sells about 10,000 units of the Swift and 6,000 units of the Ritz every month.
Saxena says it is possible for GM to clock its first 100,000-unit sales milestone next year, which represents a growth of 67 per cent.
“Just as the Spark created volumes for GM in India, helping the company grow rapidly in the last two years, the Cruze and the new Beat will generate sales numbers. But this growth will have to come on a high base of 60,000 units GM sold last year. We are optimistic,” Saxena says.
However, other analysts say the road to the 100,000-unit sales target will not be easy for GM.
“If GM hopes to take on Maruti in the premium compact car segment, they will have to first address distribution network issues. Maruti has a network of 681 showrooms in 450 cities and 2,800 workshops across 1,300 cities in the country. By comparison, GM has only 200 dealerships,” according to an auto analyst.
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