New small cars to fight hard in India

The small car segment in India is going through a robust growth phase, with a series of new car launch in the country. The segment registered a whooping growth of 35 per cent in the first quarter of this year as compare to the mere 8 per cent growth in the same period of last year.

To make the most of this vast opportunity exists here, major car makers of the world coming out with their respective new small cars in India. In the first three months of the year 2010, many popular small cars have been launched in India including Chevrolet Beat in January, Ford Figo in Feb and Volkswagen Polo in March. According to JD Power statistics the number of first-time car buyers is all set to increase from 24 per cent last year to 32 per cent this year.

Maruti India, the largest car maker in the country, is also planning aggressively to maintain its market share of more than 50 percent. The company has recently launched a completely new and updated version of its second most popular car Maruti Wagon R in India, powered with Maruti's latest K-series engine.

The real competition in this compact car segment is yet to come, as around half a dozen new small cars are in the final stage of their launch in India, that are Nissan Micra in June 2010, Toyota Etios in Dec 2010 and Honda's new small car by March 2011. With this, small cars from Fiat and Mitsubishi are also expected to be launched in India in coming months.

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