Carmakers Set to Drive in 50 New Models This Year

Carmakers Set to Drive in 50 New Models This Year

14/01/2009 New Delhi The Economic Times

It is nothing but courage in the face of adversity. Indian carmakers, which saw their sales figures crashing to an eight-year low in the September-December quarter, will launch 50 new models this year in an attempt to revive their fortunes. The new launches are likely to inject some enthusiasm into the car market, troubled by economic uncertainties triggered by global recession.

The first to hit the market this year is M&Ms Xylo, touted as Indias answer to Toyota Innova. Designed and developed at M&Ms Nashik facility, Xylo was launched on Tuesday at an introductory price of Rs 6.24 lakh. Next in the line is Fiats Linea sedan, scheduled to be launched on Wednesday. Fiat will launch petrol and diesel variants of Linea, which will be pitted against Honda city, Maruti Suzuki SX4, Ford Fiesta and Hyundai Verna. This year will see many cars from the Fiat stable, including Grande Punto hatchback and Bravo premium sedan.

The star attraction of the year will be Tatas Nano which is likely to attract new customers to the market at the new price point of Rs 1 lakh. Tata Motors will also launch its crossover Indicruz and the new Indigo range, based on the Indica Vista platform. Maruti will launch its tall boy Ritz, known as Splash worldwide. Ritz will be powered by a KB series engine and will be positioned between A-star and Swift premium hatchback. Maruti may also launch a new utility vehicle (a variant of Jimny) and a fresh version of Alto.

Honda, enthused by the demand for the re-designed City, will launch its globally successful model Jazz that will be pitted against Skoda Fabia, Maruti Swift and Hyundai i20. Hyundai Motors, which emerged unscathed from the sales slump, will launch Avante sedan to replace Elantra. It will also bring its globally popular SUV Santa FE to India , apart from launching a refurbished Sonata luxury in January.

GM will launch a new compact car priced below Spark. It will also enter the premium sedan market with Cruze in the next few months and bring the automatic version of its Captiva SUV.

Volkswagens new factory in Maharashtra will roll out Skoda Yeti, Roomster and Fabias Combi variant. The company may also launch its small car Polo by the year-end . Renault-Nissan may come out with a diverse portfolioMegane hatchback and Sandero sedan from Renault stable and Micra hatchback and Murano SUV from Nissan portfolio.

BMW will launch 7Series range while Mercedes-Benz will bring its new E-Class , close on the heels of their global debuts. Also, Fiat may launch luxury sports car Alfa Romeo 159, priced in the Rs 30-lakh bracket.