Daewoo all set for Matiz launch

The 800-cc car is likely to be priced below a Rs 3 lakh tag, company sources say though the Matiz is selling at a higher rate as compared to its competitors in Korea.

8220;The Matiz will follow a direct marketing strategy to push sales instead of the bookings route. We are targetting to sell about 40,000 units by the end of first year of launch,8221; the managing director said. 8220;By the end of three years, we should sell about 100,000 cars,8221; he said.

Indigenisation would be over 70 per cent in first full year of production and 50 per cent out of this would be in-house. 8220;The idea is to create volumes at a low cost,8221; he said.

The managing director said the company is planning to offer finance for the Matiz car in association with six non-banking financial corporations. On the road tests for the Matiz, Awasthi said that the car has seen 80,000 kms of rigid testing before being positioned in the market. Trial productions began in July and commercial production will start by September-end,quot; he explained.

In order to give information about the car, DMIL has developed CD-Roms to give full details of the car. It has also put in place an exclusive sales unit for Matiz. Besides, it has started intensive training programme for the dealers8217; staff. In fact, a programme called quot;parivartanquot; change for bringing about attitudinal change in the sales force and dealer network has been initiated.

quot;By the time the Matiz is launched, we would have a network of 250 dealers and after-sales services in place not just to cover metros, but also smaller cities,8221; Awasthi said.

He also argued that the tariff structure in India was exorbitant and a small car would only give a low margin. So the volume sales could only help in improving the bottom line. The company is having a total strategy that is global.

The Matiz is currently being made by Daewoo in three places: Korea, India and eastern Europe. Also, new markets will be explored for this car so as to maintain volumes and the benefit of economies of scale.

To cater to the domestic demand, DMIL has an assembly line with a capacity to produce 70,000 cars per year. At present, the company is making only 10,000 Cielos per annum, thus, wasting a lot of capacity. The small car is expected to utilise the assembly line8217;s capacity to the maximum.

Meanwhile, the company has also joined the Association of Indian Automobiles Manufacturers to urge the government to come out with a comprehensive automobile policy which will not only deal with tariff issues but also review issues like technology and investments in the industry.