[Redline6800]

A big shout out to Amarjeet Singh for his heads up on Chevrolet’s price cut for the SAIL Hatchback.



Today’s edition of the Times of India saw the hatchback being advertised at Rs 4.19 lakh (ex-showroom, Thane). The Sail U-VA's earlier starting price was Rs. 4.44 lakhs in Thane. This represents a desperate attempt to revive sales of the four-month old model with a price cut of Rs. 25,000 for the base 1.2L petrol. Incidentally, the latest ad didn't feature the U-VA moniker either. The car is now simply known as the Sail Hatchback.

The Sail has suffered a slow start, beginning at 1,595 units in November 2012 and then, consistently sliding to a low point of 560 shipments last month (Full Report).

One more reason that can be attributed to the price cut was the need to create a larger gap between the Sail hatchback & sedan variants. Chevrolet is said to have priced the sedan very aggressively, after the market's tepid response to the hatchback. The gap between the base petrol versions of the hatchback & sedan is now Rs. 80,000.

The Sail U-VA is actually a very competent car (Team-BHP Review); however, the dated design and basic feature list are clearly working against it.

The Sail sedan must prepare to face up to Honda’s highly anticipated Amaze, due to be launched in diesel and petrol versions shortly. The sedan can’t be positioned any lower in the Chevrolet family, as it will affect the Beat.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Indian Car Scene. Thanks for sharing!

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by Redline6800

A big shout out to Amarjeet Singh for his heads up on Chevrolet’s price cut for the SAIL Hatchback.

Attachment 1057933

Today’s edition of the Times of India saw the hatchback being advertised at Rs 4.19 lakh (ex-showroom, Thane). The Sail U-VA's earlier starting price was Rs. 4.44 lakhs in Thane. This represents a desperate attempt to revive sales of the four-month old model with a price cut of Rs. 25,000 for the base 1.2L petrol. Incidentally, the latest ad didn't feature the U-VA moniker either. The car is now simply known as the Sail Hatchback.

The Sail has suffered a slow start, beginning at 1,595 units in November 2012 and then, consistently sliding to a low point of 560 shipments last month (Full Report).

One more reason that can be attributed to the price cut was the need to create a larger gap between the Sail hatchback & sedan variants. Chevrolet is said to have priced the sedan very aggressively, after the market's tepid response to the hatchback. The gap between the base petrol versions of the hatchback & sedan is now Rs. 80,000.

The Sail U-VA is actually a very competent car (Team-BHP Review); however, the dated design and basic feature list are clearly working against it.

The Sail sedan must prepare to face up to Honda’s highly anticipated Amaze, due to be launched in diesel and petrol versions shortly. The sedan can’t be positioned any lower in the Chevrolet family, as it will affect the Beat.

Compared to the sedan, the Hatch always looked incomplete especially in the rear.

Also the pricing difference at launch of sedan ensured that Sedan was priced aggressively as compared to the hatch (A strategy ??)

A funny observation is that GM is trying to match the Sail along with Ford Figo. both of these cars are spacious, VFM and handle well. Both them dont sell well too.

Looking at this and another example(tata nano) i am forced to believe that we indians dont think of money factor when we buy a car ?(Swift, Hyundai i20, Verna, Duster, XUV etc etc.)

There are Altos and WagonRs which sell well, and there are the Swifts. Everything in between is not selling well( i10, Figo,Ritz, Sail,Vista). I am unable to find answer

[Nilesh5417]

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

A funny observation is that GM is trying to match the Sail along with Ford Figo. both of these cars are spacious, VFM and handle well. Both them dont sell well too.

GM would give an arm and a leg to get the Figo kind of sales for the Sail hatchback!! Even today's numbers of the Figo for the SAIL over next 12months will give them breathing room.

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by Nilesh5417

GM would give an arm and a leg to get the Figo kind of sales for the Sail hatchback!! Even today's numbers of the Figo for the SAIL over next 12months will give them breathing room.

Agreed, but point i was trying to make is people are stretching that extra to go for the segment leader which will be easily 1 lakh expensive(Nano-alto, Figo-Swift) etc.

So It is not just about pricing for a vehicle to become a hit.
It is happening across all segments. I am unable to decode this trend though.

[aniketi]

Why at first place price it high? It was new to market, company was struggling to make any impact in the market, people don't go crazy about Chevy cars, still they priced it higher. Instead they should have priced it lower initially & attracted customers. Once it starts selling well, increase the price slowly. They missed the trick here i guess.

Also one more big question to all, why the hell they took name of an old flop car??? Sail was a big flop from Opel, still they took it & added there own U-Va to it which was there own flop. How difficult it is to think of a new name for a new car?? Also it doesn't cost you anything like R & D, investment etc

[girishglg]

Nice finds there of the price cuts and name cuts (U-VA dropped). In any case it seems U-VA name was a bad luck charm for GM and if this gets them the number so be it.

But on a serious note, it seems to be more about the Chevrolet brand than the car itself that is hurting this offering.

With the market polarised literally between MSIL and HMIL, it is fast becoming a choice between these two for mainstream cars such as hatches and sedans rather than going to any other manufacturer.

Even some great cars like Brio are suffering in the market place with no signs of catching up. Hope with these changes GM finds something going for them.

[volkman10]

When GM is yet to command a respective market share in any segment, how did they come up, pricing the U-VA in par with Figo?
Even the more reputed Honda was not spared with the highly priced Jazz when launched.
When the damage of pricing is done at launch, no matter what ever corrections are applied later it would tend to being a market dud.

Cheers!

[Nilesh5417]

Originally Posted by aniketi

Why at first place price it high? It was new to market, company was struggling to make any impact in the market, people don't go crazy about Chevy cars, still they priced it higher. Instead they should have priced it lower initially & attracted customers. Once it starts selling well, increase the price slowly. They missed the trick here i guess.

Also one more big question to all, why the hell they took name of an old flop car??? Sail was a big flop from Opel, still they took it & added there own U-Va to it which was there own flop. How difficult it is to think of a new name for a new car?? Also it doesn't cost you anything like R & D, investment etc

Both, the pricing and the moniker from an older unsuccessful model, are mistakes (from how we on team-bhp label theam) that multiple car manufacturers have done in the past. I can immediately recall Tata, Hyundai & MSIL having done that to one or more models in their line up.

Why they do it is a question i don't really have an answer for. Not sure if anyone else has either.

[amitayu]

I feel the launch of the sedan completely eclipsed the hatchback!!

Making a mark in the fiercely competitive hatchback market itself is a big challenge in India. Shifting one's marketting focus from a hatchback to a sedan so quickly results in signing the death warrant of the hatchback.

Also, one must remember that car sales overall have been low in recent months. Trepid buyers would prefer to stick to tried and tested models under such conditions. A totally new product in such a situation needs to be carefully marketted.

I feel the Chevvy trademark assurance package can help win some buyers, but that would require sustained efforts. Such price cuts will only raise doubts about the true value of the car amongst potential buyers.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by amitayu

Such price cuts will only raise doubts about the true value of the car amongst potential buyers.

This is where I am totally confused as to why this sudden price slash by Chevy?

If the car is and worth the price then what may happen no discounts or any should be on offer (just like the Swift Diesels).

Hope this price slash doesn't indicate any problems efforts to clear the stocks!

Anurag.

[amitayu]

Even I think it is about stock clearing, and/or trying to improve the books by the end of March.

[puchoo]

I dont think moving stock would be the priority reason for this price change , while it may feature as an additional advantage in the overall case , i think the main reason is to bring about some distance between the Sedan and the Hatch , at earlier prices the decision to invest a little more and buy the Sedan instead of the hatch would have been very tempting given how close the pricing was - in this manner they might be hoping that it solves the problem to some degree?

But it does not help General Motors with overall numbers , all they ensure is that someone who was planning to buy the hatch now will stick to the hatch given the reduction in pricing - so while that person does not convert to a sedan buyer at the end of the day it is 1 sale in total whichever car that person buys.

Maybe the Hatch has its own targets to meet and hence while overall numbers dont change , it is important for the hatch to move up a bit.

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by amitayu

Even I think it is about stock clearing, and/or trying to improve the books by the end of March.

Both are doubtful.

I read somewhere in this forum that Sail sedan has a waiting period, so they can happily utilize the production lines to manufacture the sedan over hatch

And this car is too new to improve the looks, Also the looks department is ok except towards the back and no matter what they do, they cant change it so easily now

There was always a room for a price cut, GM decided to price the sedan more aggressively(easy to upgrade from the hatch isnt it ?) Even after this cut it is still expensive than Figo i guess.

[mjothi]

GM never learns from their past mistake. They did exactly this for the spark and other cars and spoiled the resale and also the customer confidence. I am not sure when they will learn to price is "correct" in the first place.