Will Hyundai Eon grab Maruti Alto's market share?

October 13th is when the South Korean auto manufacturer, Hyundai Motors has marked the time frame for the launch of its cheapest car in the country. Hyundai Eon is chiefly aimed to compete against the all-time favourite Maruti Alto in the small cars segment. Maruti Alto is a major volume driver for Maruti India. Hyundai Eon price is expected to start from Rs 2.5 lakhs and upwards. In contrary to the earlier speculations of its launch in 2012, the Korean manufacturer has brought the launch date forward to October 13. The biggest rival of Hyundai Eon in the market, Maruti Alto is currently being offered with two engine options, 800 cc petrol engine and a 1.0 L petrol engine. While the 800 cc petrol engine costs around Rs 2.32 – Rs 3.31 lakhs, the 998 cc engine variant costs around Rs 3.0 –Rs 3.3 lakhs.

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Among the Maruti Alto sales, the 800 cc engine variant contributes 60% of the sales, the rest is taken care by the 998 cc K series engine introduced last year. Hyundai Eon is all set to dethrone the Maruti Alto with its 814 cc petrol engine and its overwhelming mileage of 21.1 kmpl, while Maruti Alto offers a mileage of 19.3 kmpl. As far as the exteriors and the dimensions are concerned, the Hyundai Eon is taller and wider than Maruti Alto. Hyundai Eon, with its latest technology and supreme styling is expected to grab the market share of Maruti Alto. Hyundai India president and CEO, HW Wark believes that Hyundai Eon with its safety, quality, technology and convenience will make a mark in the segment.

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Hyundai India Motors Limited, which has its domestic head-quarters in Chennai has its R&D cell located in Hyderabad. The Indian R&D unit in co-ordination with its Korean counterpart has developed the Hyundai Eon to cater to the demands of Indian consumers. The small hatchback adorns the ‘Fluidic’ design taking after the Hyundai’s best-selling model Verna. The established player in the hatchback segment, Maruti Suzuki India claims 80% of the market share. The auto company founded in 1981 offers few of the best-selling cars in India such as Maruti A-Star, Maruti Swift, Maruti Alto and Maruti Wagon R. Hyundai Santro of Hyundai India, the second largest car manufacturer in the country has 14% market share and Chevrolet Beat of GM India has 5.3 % market share in the industry. Hyundai Motors and GM India are relatively newer automobile manufacturers, who started their operations in the country in 1996.

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