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Oil price boom may see flip in small car sales
Published on Thu, Jun 05, 2008 at 19:32, Updated at Thu, Jun 05, 2008 in Auto section
Tags: Small Cars, Hybrid Cars , New Delhi
GREEN CALL: Many auto-manufacturers are now expected to fast-track their hybrid variants.
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New Delhi: The increase in fuel price is good news for some though. Small car manufacturers are hoping to benefit.
The prediction is that now there will be a boost in the sales of small and alternate-fuel cars.
Many car-owners are also switching to smaller cars now that using larger gas-guzzlers is creating pressure on family budgets.
“We have a smaller car at home. We will be having our family outings now in the smaller car instead of the bigger one,” said one car-owner while another explained, “A person buying a small car or a big car, they know their budget and they know how the fuel prices are going.”
Auto majors like Hyundai confirm the trend and say that consumers may postpone their buying plans and switch to CNG, diesel or smaller cars.
“I expect, as a response to this (fuel price hike), people to really look for cars which are more fuel-efficient,” said VP (Sales & Marketing), Hyundai, Arvind Saxena.
It is not just cars, though; even two-wheeler manufacturers, who had just begun to recover in term of sales, are now feeling the heat.
“I, as a manufacturer of two-wheelers, obviously don't like it. My customer will have to pay more, the demand for fuel may go down,” said Bajaj Auto Chairman, Rahul Bajaj.
The hike has made car-manufactures see green. Many like Honda are expected to fast-track the launch of their hybrid variants, like the Honda Civic.
The time for change has come, however. So, gas guzzlers like SUVs may be headed for the junk yard, to be replaced by smaller cars.
With inputs from Swati Khandelwal
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