Power battle hots up in B segment of cars

bangalore: though hyundai motor india officials stated at the launch of the 1.1 litre santro zip plus on monday that the 999-cc version will not be phased out, reliable sources indicate that it may gradually be buried. this is because the company has decided to focus on the 1100-cc zip plus model and believes that as consumers look to upgrade, the need for the 999-cc santro may not exist.price-wise too, the base model of zip plus is being sold at only rs 8,000 more than the regular santro. clearly, car companies have begun to realise that the b segment customer has become more demanding, looking for higher bhp and better overall driving experience. the aggressive push mounted by fiat palio and maruti last year with a slew of options in the b segment, and now hyundai, are all indicative of this. indeed, all the activity is in the vicinity of 1.1 litre engines. maruti''s wagon r is 1.1 litre, while fiat palio is 1.2 and indica 1.4. and in the b category, which accounts for 35 per cent of the passenger car sector, all are fiercely competing in the same price band. zip plus has been designed in india with first-time b segment features like a knock sensor. hyundai has a 23 per cent share in the b segment in india and expects this to increase by 5 per cent this year with zip plus. but palio and indica have been snapping at hyundai''s heels in recent times. fiat has targeted selling 50,000 units of palio this year and may well get there going by customer response. it has already notched 11 per cent share in the b segment and has brought out the palio sport variant, and a sachin tendulkar signature car, with adventure and weekend likely soon. palio was all about offering a powerful, small, good-looking car, and after the uno disaster, promises to be fiat''s big success story. tata''s new indica v2 in diesel and petrol has been a winner too with a completely revamped front and rear suspension and redesigned engine. the company has targeted unit sales of 5,000 a month, most of which will now come from v2, to break even on the rs 1,700-crore investment made on the indica project.