New vehicles brave demonetisation

The central government’s decision to withdraw old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes came a day after Japanese automobile major Toyota launched its new Fortuner in India on November 7. The demonetisation move was concern for the company as the vehicle was priced at Rs 29 lakh on an average and cash crunch could pull down demand. But, Toyota registered about 6,000 bookings and successfully delivered 1,924 units of the vehicle, valued at about Rs 550 crore, in November. There is also a waiting period of two months on this new car.
 
A week after demonetisation, South Korean car maker Hyundai launched the premium sports utility vehicle, Tucson. It has managed to get 600 bookings and already delivered 261 vehicles worth Rs 57 crore in the second fortnight of November. This vehicle, too, has a two-month waiting period.

 
N Raja, director and senior vice-president (sales & marketing) at Toyota, is happy with the response for the Fortuner but thinks it could have done better. “We could have got an additional booking of 2,000 units had the sentiments in the market been right. Buyers have been using cheque and online payments and some normalcy is coming back,” he said. The firm is preparing to deliver another 4,000 vehicles between December and January.
 

Raja said the company continues to see strong demand for the new Innova Crysta as well, launched early this year.
 
Jaguar Land Rover launched new Range Rover Evoque, priced between Rs 49 lakh and Rs 68 lakh, on Tuesday. Not many launches have taken place since demonetisation because companies prefer to time launches with the festive months of September and October.

 
Two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto launched its premium sports bike Dominar 400, priced at Rs 1,36,000-1,50,000, last Thursday . While the booking volume is not yet available for this new product, the company said it had an unprecedented heavy traffic on its website after the launch, leading to a crash. Last week, the company had said it would sell at least 10,000 units a month in the domestic market, beginning January.
 
Bajaj, the country’s largest two-wheeler exporter, said exports could average 5,000 units a month initially. “Looking at the initial response, it appears that the company will have to quickly ramp up production to meet deliveries commencing January 2017,” Bajaj Auto said on Tuesday.