Knives are out in Elantra-Corolla battle

Hyundai rejects the speculation that the new ads could create a controversy, especially because the Corolla has been explicitly named. Sanjeev Shukla, manager (marketing), Hyundai Motors India, says, ‘‘We have done so on the basis of features of the two cars and on facts. Unlike Coke and Pepsi, we are not poking fun at our rivals.”

Toyota Kirloskar, which sells the Corolla in India, does not plan to retaliate to Hyundai’s campaign, even though in one month (May 2004), the Elantra managed to sell more than the Corolla. Its indifference to the ad will probably preclude the need for ASCI jumping into the fray.

When the Elantra was launched in April this year, it was clear that Hyundai was pitching against the Toyota Corolla and the Skoda Octavia (the Elantra can be compared with these two cars on the Hyundai India website).

While taking the Toyota bull by its horns, Hyundai is also trying to send across the message that Toyota sells products in India that are different than those it sells in developed markets like the US. However, a look at comparative features of the models sold in India and those in the US show that both Hyundai and Corolla may have indulged in a bit of product differentiation. While Hyundai sells a 2.0L engine Elantra in the US, the Indian variants are 1.8L.

Hyundai’s Shukla, however, claims that the company has made no compromises in its models sold in India. ‘‘The Hyundai cars that we sell in India have the same features as those sold in the US and Europe,” he says. Still, in terms of innovation and proprietary technology, analysts says that a trade-off is certain between cars sold abroad and those pushed into India.

Hyundai clarifies that the differentiation, if any, is more about safety features.