Five new cars coming this Diwali

Car market is trying hard to come out of the sluggish sales. This festive season (till November) will be marked by 5 new car launches in India namely- Honda Brio, Hyundai Eon, Mahindra XUV 500, Skoda Rapid and Tata Merlin. All these models are developed from scratch and unlike every year are not just refreshes, facelifts and cosmetic changes in the existing models. Car giants are trying to cash in extra points by enriching their customers with more options to choose from.

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Although car sales dipped by 11% for the second consecutive month in August compared to last year, car companies are in full fervor and wooing their upcoming cars to the fullest. Topping the list is-Honda Brio which is just on the brink of its launch. Honda Brio price estimated to be Rs 5 lakh will be confirmed only on September 28, 2011when the hatchback will come out of its cover. Honda Brio will be the biggest launch by Honda India after Honda City.

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Jnaneswar Sen, Senior Vice-President (sales and marketing) at Honda India said that the company is in the process of ramping up its dealership network to 143 in 91 cities by March from 125 dealers in 77 cities in April 2010. When asked about the probable disadvantage of Honda Brio being launched in petrol variant only, he replied that although the trend is towards ‘diesel-ization', the excellent cost of ownership will ensure Honda Brio petrol finds favour among the buyers.

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Small car segment accounts for at least 75% of the Indian market. For long Maruti Suzuki India has been reining this segment, but now even Hyundai India is set to launch its compact car Hyundai Eon priced at an expected Rs 2.5 lakh. Expected to go on sale in late October Hyundai Eon has been pitted against the Maruti Alto, India's largest selling car that clocks monthly average sales of 25,000-30,000.

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The price gap between diesel and petrol has widened to Rs. 26 a litre with diesel being 40% cheaper than petrol. This has encouraged Mahindra Mahindra to bring a diesel-engined powerful SUV known as Mahindra XUV 500. Launching on the same day as Honda Brio in Pune, Mahindra XUV 500 will be price at about Rs 15 lakh. Anand G. Mahindra, Vice-Chairman at MM places high hopes with XUV 500 and mentions that the SUV has been developed by the company's research and development centre in Chennai and will be sold in South Africa, western Europe, Australia and South America after India.

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To compete with this animal SUV, rival company Tata is at its heels to launch Tata Merlin SUV which is presently undergoing a lot of technical tests according to global standards. Skoda India is next on the list with the application of Skoda Lauretta earlier thought to be Skoda Rapid. The sedan Skoda Lauretta expected to be in the range of Rs. 7-10 lakh will raise curtains in the last week of October. All these new launches also come in the backdrop of rising interest rates and petrol prices that have discouraged car buyers to put off their purchase plans. Hopes are high that new launches will restore the sheen in Indian car market.

Read More on : Honda Brio expert review