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Last year, Alto pipped Volkswagen Golf and Fiat Punto to become the largest selling compact car globally.
Come next week, Maruti Suzuki is set to face a tough challenge as producer of the world’s largest-selling small car, Alto. Korean auto major Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) is gearing up to launch its compact car on the domestic shores. Its name: Eon.
MSIL, as India’s biggest passenger car company, registers nearly half of its sales from the mini segment, Alto alone contributed to a fourth of its models sold in the last financial year.
The Eon, the smallest car developed by Seoul-headquartered Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) globally, is expected to be tagged upwards of Rs 2.5 lakh (ex-showroom). The Alto offers two-engine configurations of 800cc and 998cc. While the standard 800 cc engine powered car is priced between Rs 2.32 lakh and Rs 3.31 lakh, The 998cc K10 comes for Rs 3.04 lakh and Rs 3.20 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). Maruti Suzuki registers 60 per cent sales of from the 800cc variants. The remaining numbers come for the K-series versions that were introduced in August last year.
The original plan was to launch Eon in India in early 2012, but the Indian subsidiary of HMC would now launch the vehicle exclusively in the country on October 13.
The car comes equipped with a three-cylinder 814cc engine, and is wider and taller than the Alto. The Eon is said to have fuel efficiency of 21.1 kmpl, as compared to 19.73 kmpl from the Alto. All said and done, will Eon be able to end Alto’s seven-year dominance as the best-selling car in the country?
Yes, believes H W Park, president and chief executive officer, HMIL. “Eon will set a new benchmark in the Indian market with regard to styling, performance, safety and convenience,” he says. “The car will provide the best-in-class design, quality and technology to its customers.”
The Eon is targeted at first-time buyers. The car has been conceived, designed and developed over four years, keeping the Indian consumer’s preferences in mind. Chennai-based HMIL’s research and development team in Hyderabad worked in coordination with HMC’s R&D engineers in Korea to develop the Eon exclusively for the market in India. It sports the ‘Fluidic’ design characteristics of the refurbished Verna, which has thrown a serious challenge to the likes of Honda City and Volkswagen Vento in the midsize sedan market.
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