So I had someone fetch me the on-road prices of the i20 (Mumbai). Comparing ex-showroom is pointless, and the taxes & insurance are proportionately larger with more expensive cars.
Hyundai i20 On-road Mumbai:
Magna : 559,094
Asta : 651,195
Asta O : 676,513
For reference, here is the Swift
Swift on-road Mumbai:
LXi : 462,895
Vxi : 497,023
ZXi : 589,095 (Note that the Swift ZXI, its additional features, currently accounts for a small percentage of Swift sales.)
The difference between the mid-equipped Swift and i20 is a whopping 1.54 lakhs! And the ZXi vis a vis Asta O differential is nearly 80,000! A 1.2L hatch for 6.5 lakhs? I can hardly wait to see how the numbers settle down once the new launch dust has settled
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Originally Posted by reppy Hyundai gave you the answer - instead of targeting those customers who are looking for power/efficiency/torque, they are after the customers who are rating features/build quality/safety over power/torque/efficiency etc. |
Sure. And if their sales targets are low to begin with, we can stop discussing the products success. As I just posted, lets wait and watch to see what customers really prefer.
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Moreover, Hyundai could have put in the 1.4 and raised the price by another 20-30k, making the car look like an awesome deal at 6-6.2 lacs on road. But the government policy does not allow them to do that - they'll be slapped with an extra 8% excise.
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Please don't live under a false impression and blame the pricing on "government policy". Let's not get naive here. Look at the on-road prices at the top of my post...It is all about profitability. It is due to an attitude like this that a less-for-more product exists. Why can't we have a more-for-same or more-for-less product line? History shows, it is these cars that sell the most. Hyundai knows it themselves with the Santro. The key word here is
value which the i20 provides little of.
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So lets just say that the i20, and not the Fabia, is going to create the opening for the premium supermini segment,
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Wouldn't Hyundai wish?! We need to realise that a premium positioning requires a premium brand. Fortunately or unfortunately, Skoda is perceived as a premium brand in India. While Hyundai isn't! Not by a long shot.
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And if the heavier car has a lower coefficient of drag
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Drag counts for dung at speeds less than 40 kph; this is where we spend most of our time in the city.
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and a tuned-for-torque/efficiency version of the same engine/gearbox?
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The kappa engine isn't particularly known for its low-end torque. In fact, the Santro's original engine fares much better here. TD the different i10 variants to know more.
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Maybe it is as per you or the forum*. I clearly gave you my perception. |
Not me, that's the opinion of 90% of Swift owners. If I have 300 Swift owners saying something, and one non-owner opposing, it is safe to presume what is true.
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Originally Posted by Elito11 Coming back to topic the ONLY flaw with i20 is the 1.2L engine. and that IS WHY it is being accused of being overpriced. |
Hit the nail right on the head. You can't have premium positioning and then, put in a small engine (for excise benefits) and one that offers sub-par performance. If the i20 had a better engine at the same price, I'd be much happier.
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Also has anyone looked at profitibility??
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Agreed. The uncompetitive pricing has to do more with profitability rather than cost. Actually, most cars today aren't priced on the cost + profit model. It is based on the maximum, that the company thinks, the market will pay for it. Sadly, Hyundai has gotten it all wrong with the i20.
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Originally Posted by gunbir According to some people the Getz was supposed to be overpriced |
Not supposed to be. It was. 92% of this community thinks so -
link to thread. Any research specialist will tell you that our memberbase offers amongst the best research samples available. I could share with you the long hours that top research organisations (and I mean TOP) spend on Team-BHP.
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If the i20 is overpriced, what are cars like Chevrolet SRV, Skoda Fabia?
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Verrrrrrrrrrry overpriced. Their market failure attests to this fact. I hope you aren't keeping the SRV or the Fabia as a benchmark of success!
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Sure the Swift sells 9000 units a month. Well, the M800 probably still sells more than that
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Actually Gunbir, the Swift
does sell more than the 800. Go figure.
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Originally Posted by lancer_rit (No hatch tops Fusion's 1.6l petrol engine). |
In performance, the Palio 1.6 is an equal match. However, both the Palio 1.6 and the Fusion 1.6 bombed. Why? They didn't serve the markets needs, which is of efficiency. Heck, efficiency matters even to the Indian customer who has a 15 lakh rupee budget.
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They should provide other engine options as well, and that would make the i20 line more balanced.
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Release with lower spec engine and chalk up sales with novelty, looks and features. Then, launch a higher end engine, split the models and add to it, and charge more for the bigger engined one(s). |
Correct. But my problem is this : The i20 is so premium priced with the 1.2L engine, they simply haven't left room for the 1.4 and (God forbid) a common-rail diesel. How much will the 1.4 sell for? 7.25 lakhs? Diesel at 8 lakhs? Good luck, Hyundai. You gonna need it.
I am curious to know what pricing you think is appropriate for the larger engines. Please reply back with on-the-road numbers.
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BTW, in the Passat 1.6, I touched 200kmph
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Top speed is irrelevant. I have cruised at over 200 kmph in the C180 and it still was a pretty under-powered car.
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so its possible they are not having a clear idea of how to go about it above the Santro/Accent/i10 range.
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Spot on! They have shown their incompetence in handling the 6+ lakh segment.
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Civic charged 20-25% premium over Optra, Cedia, Elantra and still sold more than all of them and Corolla combined during its heyday.
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The market caught up with the Civic, didn't it? It is currently languishing.
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Only the Altis launch has halted Civic sales.
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Incorrect information. At the end of 2008, the Civic experienced 15 straight months of a sales decline. That was way before the Altis even came into the picture.