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-   -   Hyundai wanting to buy marketshare - Sonata (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/13212-hyundai-wanting-buy-marketshare-sonata.html)

One wet evening a couple of days ago, i walked into a hyundai showroom and saw the sonata embera for the first time. They are offering 1.5L off the on road price.. I guess that means in bangalore the entry on road price is around 14L for the vehicle..

At 14lacs its a much much better buy than the Skoda L&K which is also priced around that range...
BTW, which model was it??

1.5L off already??
Sounds like move of desperation

..barely six months after launch.....

Old sonata initially sold as the accord, mondy, camry, octy etc were not on the market

Time to reduce price, add a diesel and......TAXI !!!!!

I don't think price cut will do much difference but Diesel just might be the answer. Indians love diesel and CRDi engines are very good.
It will also give head start to Hyundai over compitition.

Embera MT fabric - (15.87 ORP - 1.5L) = 14.37L (bottom end)
Embera AT Leather - (16.94 ORP - 1.5L) = 15.44L (top end)

Ajit, ideally as you said, if the positioning was right, we ought to have the superb at these rates and the Lauras at the high end corolla rates..

This would be more VFM and a lot more cars will sell.. Skoda could potentially wipe out the optra/corolla/elantra and their low end and accord/camry at the upper end if they do this.. If they have more volume, then they have more spares/maintenance business and marketshare would allow them to expand their outlets.. I think they are conservative and thinking the Opel way..

Hyundai is making the same mistake with the Embera that Skoda made with the Superb. Diesel variant should have been launched first seeing our diesel-crazed country and should have been priced around 10-12 lakhs.

Drifter

D-segment is genrally getting screwed up, Honda is laughing all the way to the bank. At least they were a while ago, I dont know what is situation with them is now.

With the CRV pricing?

At about Rs 15L price range, the owners of the car really don't care about the cost savings from diesel vs petrol. A few thousand rupees extra per month in petrol expenses (worst case scenario) is not enough to justify choosing a car that is not that cool. Petrol gives a better driving experience than diesel and that alone is a bigger reason for people with such budgets.

There is just no exciting car on the Indian market between Rs 12L to Rs 20L. Honda Accord, Hyundai Sonata, Toyota Camry, Honda CRV, Ford Expedition, Ford Mondeo etc are too big for city driving. The smaller cars are too numerous to be exclusive. Not to mention the unpleasant driving experience.

In India higher horsepower doesn't mean much because you can't really drive above 60kmph for most parts (may be third or fourth gear).

A compact car loaded with luxury features would be nice.

Then how do you explain the merc c cdi selling more than the kompressor? Even the skoda superb has seen a boost in sales now that its offered with a diesel engine.

Believe it or not, even people who can afford to pay for petrol still care about fuel efficiency. Even in their minds the question always remains - "Average kitna hai".

Drifter

I am not certain about the advances in terms of quality and technology that has gone into the latest Sonata. But, I did test drive the previous Sonata, and I ended up buying a Civic as a second car, just because the interiors felt so cheap, and I could feel the engine by gripping the steering. I see a lot of talk about VFM, but its not just about all the gadgets that you get for a certain price, its about the quality of the gadgets, and how it retains its value over a period of time.
For what its worth, has anyone notices the Toyota Corollas of 1950s climbing the hills in Katmandu, Nepal. Its amazing. I can bet if a 2 year old Sonata challenges a 5 year old Corolla/civic, in terms of ride quality, structure, efficiency, resale value- the corolla/civic will be the winner.

If we overlook the design cues from the other vehicles, Sonata is the best looker of C & D segment put together. Also extremely close to Accord in performance. I guess it is a practical buy minus snob value.