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6th February 2009, 18:47
| #31 | |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Coimbatore
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6th February 2009, 18:49
| #32 | |
| Distinguished - BHPian   Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Pune
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Come to think of it, there is no such thing as a perfect 'nationality' because there is no such thing as a perfect person. I think as a 'potential' buyer I'd prefer if this Korean chap actually thought of what is more important to sell his cars in a market that is one of the biggest (for the stuff he peddles) in the world. All he needs to do is listen to the customer instead of passing sweeping remarks about a particular nationality. Listening to the customer and acting on their feedback sells cars, criticising them does not. Cheers! | |
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6th February 2009, 18:55
| #33 | |
| Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Pune
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Sorry guys...I know it's off topic and wont debate this any further. Cheers! R2D2 | |
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6th February 2009, 20:48
| #34 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Calcutta, Pune
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| Venkat your exercise is laudable. Its time that, we as consumers put forth our views to the vendor and made our moneys worth. In India Suzuki gets away by selling the Maruti 800, Alto, Zen, Zen Estillo and A-Star in parallel, Hyundai does with the Santro and I10, Accent and the Verna and even Skoda does it with the Octavia and Laura. Indian’s have been traditionally price conscious and government policies played a important role in shaping up the car industry as it is today. While politicians getting away with rules and regulations that would put a logical eight years old’s deductions to shame – but the Indian customer is no longer the gentle ignorant soul spending his money on a car and not getting its worth. I had the opportunity to work some time in the top dog of the Indian car industry and I knew about the Dzire way back in 2004-05 but the general attitude of people was that they simply did not care what the customer wanted – in general the attitude was how to sell more cars in a calendar year. While they might have realized that extending this attitude would let the market pie slip under their feet they seem to be getting its act together. The Dzire and the SX4 seem to get their act together – though build quality is something to be desired – its on par to what is offered in the US & other markets. SX4 & swift for example are known as poor mans sedans and rattles exist there to (honestly).  Hyundai on the other had does not seem to learn. Santro was a winner but instead of replacing with the i10 at similar price points it could have changed the mindset of the customer – you take the mindshare one bit at a time and customers do remember. Now what it did was sell the i10, then sell the i10 with a kappa engine – result a lot of people felt cheated (honestly one of my neighbors complain about it repeatedly cursing Hyundai).  Then they introduce the i20 and leave out features, offer a smallish engine that make the otherwise fantastic looking car useless on a highway or when fully loaded. Then they have the Verna – fantastic diesel with desirable safety bits left out. Then again they sell the Accent side by side here while in the US markets the verna is the accent and a pretty cheap car at that. I would be caught dead driving a Verna there. Then again the Skodas of the world are no different. Honda offers cars at a premium – city does not sell in the US, Civic & corollas there are poor mans car (driven mostly by old folks and women – read Asian women). The problem is the mindset that existed in India earlier and that is bound to change. Our parents saw the HMs and Fiats and gobbled up the marutis because of price points. As economies grow and we get more aware of things global and want to make our money’s worth every paisa – it’s a matter of time when we make things count. The market share might just shift for Hyundai here. Is Fiat listening? PS: I would take the Swift DDIS over the Getz CrDI anyway inspite of the rattles anyway. Ditto for the Sx4 over the Verna or even Honda city. At least the SX4 is a similar price points and retails over INR 50000 less than what it sells in the US. The same cannot be said about the Hyundai or the Hondas here. who are considered as premium brands (at least they think they are) and command a premium. But till when is the question? |
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6th February 2009, 22:28
| #35 | |
| Senior - BHPian  | Quote:
 I disagree with this one. Are you saying the 1 billion people behave in the same way? Because if i am invited for a party and it starts by 8pm then i reach by 7.45pm making sure am not late. Yes i can be late at times but thats for other reasons then thinking, oh the time is 8pm so it will start at 9pm. True many people think like that however many people also make special efforts to be punctual always and IMO noone be it a Korean or a Japanese can stand in my country and say bullshit about the people here without addressing the main concern which was that the product they are giving us is not upto the standard. Feedback of the customer is most impo aspect if a company wants to grow and make better products and this attitude cant do that. I cant find any constructive criticism here rather than a self made ugly view towards the people of this country in an attempt to hide their own shortcomings. Sorry for being completely OT but i didn't like the attitude of that particular Korean person(with such comments i dont think as a gentleman). | |
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6th February 2009, 22:30
| #36 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: CHENNAI
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| 1st RESPONSE FROM HYUNDAI INDIA @Suprateep: Fully agree with whatever you have said. But why can't these manufacturers take the initiative and make a difference in this market ? One after another, almost every foreign automaker in India seems to have this kind of a "ah what the heck - this is enough for the Indian market" attitude. I really despise it and am trying to do something within my abilities. Well BHPians, I checked my email just now and saw a response from Hyundai India. I have emailed them before too regarding other things and have not got this kind of a quick response. So I was a bit surprised seeing this email today. Well well - good start. Let us hope it goes further ! Here's the response received: ========== Ref: HQ/CCS/SRO – 252 February 6, 2009 Mr. Venkat Gopalan Email id: vsg12777@gmail.com Dear Mr. Venkat Gopalan, This is with reference to your email dated February 5, 2009 regarding Hyundai Cars. We thank you for your interest in Hyundai Cars and for sparing your valuable time in rendering us your valuable feedback. At Hyundai Motors, it is our constant endeavor to provide the best product and after sale support to all our customers. Further, the features and retro- fitment in our Cars are based on local market conditions. However, we have forwarded your feedback to the concerned department for needful evaluation. In case of any assistance or clarifications please feel free to contact us at 044 – 42204600. Assuring you of our best customer care support. Thanking you, Yours truly, R. Srinivasan Regional Parts and Service Manager South Region ========== Hey people - anyone can help me get the contact details of higher ups in Hyundai India ? And other manufacturers too of course. Let's get the message across to these guys with a cheesy attitude towards the Indian auto industry, shall we ?  Warm regards, Venkat |
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6th February 2009, 23:00
| #37 | |
| BHPian  Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: chandigarh
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Its close to 1 year and numerous mails i havent got a single call either from hyundai or there dealer.. and i dont want to compare here but the difference between them and no.1 Maruti lies here that its going to be 2 years since i bought my esteem i have got 2 letters (one last year in jan and 2nd this in jan) from GM Service Maruti asking for feedback regarding dealer service and any complaints. Last year i had a small issue for which i didnt gave good points to dealer there service guy came to my home to rectify the problem. There lies the difference. Yes Hyundai drives better then my esteem and has less rattles but i will never buy hyundai again because of there attitude! EDIT: Can anyone please send me email id of Hyundai MD Mr. Lheem..Atleast i should try and send him a letter regarding my problem even though it might fall on deaf ears but i will have satisfaction i tried till the last . Last edited by salvation : 6th February 2009 at 23:04. | |
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7th February 2009, 00:20
| #38 | |
| Senior - BHPian  | Quote:
Yeah,very true.Infact lately i have been thinking that few of the manufacturers are taking us for granted.Honda released NHC that demanded premium over other sedans despite having less power.Indians lapped it up like anything,and many of us thought that the high price is justified because it had better plastics and materials used.Now the nec city is priced even higher.And for a car that costs almost above 9 lakhs on road its interior quality is as good or as bad as sx4 that retails for around a couple of lakh less.fine,honda brought all the safety bits this time trying to justify the price tag but as cost saving measure gave us puny tyres,no alloys,no cd-player and erratic ORVMs.Yet many of us who are loyal to the Honda badge liked the car and in their blind faith for honda did not mind the poor plastics and lack of equipment.Maruti is often criticised for cost cutting measures but then it has priced its products accordingly whereas Honda and others take us for granted and know that such measures wont affect the brand image | |
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7th February 2009, 00:43
| #39 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Bangalore
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| 10 years ago, how many cars launched in India had features like Airbags, ABS, Alloys, power-everything as standard ? Now-a-days, atleast they are being offered in more and more cars, thanks to growing awareness in the Indian consumer and more importantly - growing competition. Bottom line is for every car company making as much profit as possible with minimum investment remains the highest priority. If the consumers don't care, and if there is no Govt regulation, the manufactures obviously won't.. The manufactures go by what the majority of its potential Indian consumers really want(fuel-efficiency, looks, power, comfort,hassle free service and cheaper maintenance cost) and they try to maintain their respective car price levels within a range where most buyers will accept it and hopefully buy in large numbers. Are the *majority* of the Indian consumers willing to pay a higher price for ABS, Airbags(front,curtain etc), alloys etc ? IMO the majority of the consumers don't care. Adding the above equipment as standard features will simply increase the cost and push the car(and the respective manufacturer) out of competition. Definitely there is a silver lining ahead. Growing awareness of the Indian consumer and brand competition will slowly but surely force the manufactures to offer more and more equipment as standard in the years to come.  |
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7th February 2009, 02:10
| #40 |
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7th February 2009, 03:21
| #41 |
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7th February 2009, 11:10
| #42 | |
| Distinguished - BHPian  | Quote:
Last edited by SS-Traveller : 7th February 2009 at 11:14. | |
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7th February 2009, 11:20
| #43 | |
| BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Calcutta, Pune
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Well times being hard things will change albeit slowly - there is a bit of a silver lining. Maruti seems to be picking up in many areas (although service network is getting worse i feel) - ultimately the others will have to follow suit or else Fiat with its small cars or even a renault can come in and steal Hyundai's thunder. Whatever happens I am sure the customer (read us) will be happy. PS: Will eagerly await any further response from hyundai india. | |
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7th February 2009, 15:21
| #44 |
| BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bangalore
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