Car makers to delve rural markets to ramp up sales

Car sales in India slumped to a great extent in India in the current fiscal. Car makers now eye breakthrough win by intensifying dealerships in the rural areas especially after 10% growth recorded in that segment. Hyundai India, Tata Motors, Ford India are betting high with their small cars to gain traction in those areas. Maruti Suzuki India, though has always been the one to make the most of its growth in the smaller cities of the country. Maruti Alto has been their evergreen champion in the A segment with its capacity to garner some impressive sales from the rural and city markets alike.

Hyundai India, country’s second largest car manufacturer has the right weapon in hand to reach every nook and corner of the country. Hyundai Eon is the car with the potential to turn around sales for the car manufacturer with its economic pricing combined with hot fluidic looks. As many as 750 sales and service points are introduced in the country and this includes its rural presence as well. India’s largest auto giant Tata Motors obviously has the trump card in hand, now more so, with the 2012 Tata Nano launched recently and the diesel variant up on its sleeve. Around 80 sales points are launched just to promote the world’s cheapest car sales.

It is basically quite easy to understand the car manufacturers strategy behind this. While the cream of the country, a part of metros and major cities find it easier to acquire bigger cars with bulky price tags, the rural population is more interested in the budget cars. Michael Boneham of Ford India has offered a different perspective to their approach. The population is on a rise especially in the Tier II, Tier III and the Tier IV cities. A survey shows that the population in around 60 of such cities alone will reach 1 million by 2020. So, these are the regions where Ford India hopes a full-fledged supply of Ford cars.

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