Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL), India’s second largest car manufacturer, is worried by the slow sales of the EON that seem to be showing no signs of picking up. The EON was launched with the view to become the leader in the small car category, that till know, has been dominated only by Maruti Suzuki. But due to increasing fuel prices, and interest rates, consumers seem to be showing no interest in purchasing new cars, translating to only 9000 bookings for the Hyundai Eon in the first week, a big disappointment for HMIL.
As Mr. Arvind Saxena, Dir. (Marketing and Sales), HMIL, says, “The market has been impacted by frequent hikes in interest rates and gasoline prices. Hyundai Eon is for the entry-level buyer who is particularly sensitive to increase in lending rates. Many of our target consumers may have already availed of home loans and are now deferring purchases so as not to increase their outgo in EMIs”.
The Hyundai Eon price at Rs. 2.69 Lakh – 3.71 Lakh, was meant to be a direct completion to the Maruti Suzuki Alto is the smallest car to be developed by the Korean operated Hyundai Motors. In expectation of high sales, HMIL delivered over 13,000 units of the small car to dealers all over the country, in response to the 96,000 enquires for the car since its launch in October this year. But with actual sales, coming out to be only 9,000, the conversion rate to actual sales has been less than 10%. The one solace to HMIL though, is that the Hyundai Eon is not the only car hit by the sales slump as all manufacturers are having to cope with this problem.
