Indian market Corolla preview

[salmanf1]

@nick
if i am not wrong, last generation corolla was a slow seller. Do you think this corolla will make name for itself?

[buksh]

The corolla here is not expensive as well

[anonpak]

As much as they love to complain, Pakistanis have a very nicely priced Corolla. That's with purchasing power considered.

The reason most PWs find Corollas and Civics expensive is because most of them are teenagers. Everything seems expensive when you're earning an allowance from daddy.

[TrueEye]

nick man, whatever you say but the thread failed to achieve its intended purpose :P;) crazy pakistani teenagers are getting sensible now (well, to some extent) (y)

but jokes aside, don't you think that its relatively overpriced for a market where a reasonable sedan would not cost you more than 1 mil hmm?

anonpak

agreed, pakistani corolla is not overpriced whatsoever BUT taking into consideration the fact that 80% (or even more) of the population will not be able to afford it just because they are not as rich as you may be, so they would rather spend their money sensibly than buy a local made car (made of cheap plastic) for such a crazy price. Its not you, its your dollars that are talking. Come to pakistan, earn yourself an honest living and then we'll talk about prices of different commodities. Hope you wont whine even then. Cheers

P.S A cement renderer (palastar karnay wala mazdoor to be precise) may even earn $5k-$6k a week (depends on the amount of work he performs), yes a week not even a month. But on the other hand a guy with the same job in pakistan may only earn Rs150/day which turns out to be Rs4500/month. So now tell me anonpak dear, in a country where even a labourer earns, let us assume (can even earn more), $5000/ month and a car costs lets say $25000, so would it be difficult for that guy to afford that car? Nop, not at all, but translate the whole figures into Rupees (which you have been doing very efficiently), its a total different story. I personally know of a cement renderer who owns three cars,

1) SS V8
2) Impreza WRX (not STI though)
3) a light pickup truck (toyota)

now compare that to a pakistani cement renderer, he gets his wage almost identical in numeric value to that of the other guy, but pity is theres a difference of prefixes. yes he gets his wage in Rs. not in $$$. We could have compared both of these guys if the same car would have cost Rs25000. Samjha kya?

[abdkhan]

Something's Spooky

[whisky]

@anonpak

I've been always FOR what you say but for this reply, i'm against it. It's ridiculously priced. I know my father cannot afford it and even if he could, I'd tell him NEVER to buy it. Most of the people I know can't afford it even though they're earning for themselves. Whose pocket money do they get?

[saadsmalik]

@nickatnite
sir u're on a Pakistani forum, so OBVIOUSLY, we WILL compare outside stuff with ours... and seriously, the corolla in india is DAMN expensive... It doesn't matter if we're talking about 2 different countries, well maybe it does, but not as much as the price difference

[salik990]

well to me price look fine in India......if u check the price of fully loaded corolla here in dubai it's for 76K dirhams......here in Dubai corolla is exactly same like Indian corolla n it's got volume control n cruise control on steering which Pakistani corolla doesnt have....but we got cruise control but not on the steering it's at the bak of steering like old age car used to have

@nick: does it have parking sensor at the back bumper n bluetooth at the deck

[nickatnite]

@saadsmalik

How can you say that this car is 'expensive", when the Pak Corolla costs almost 20lacs with minimal equipmets levels.??. What do you base this on?. What part of "price quoted in Indian rupees" don't you, my buddies at PW who commented on the price in this thread (thanks!:)), understand??.ToyotaBharat is offering upto 50,000 in discounts and incentives already on the Altis and that's the nature of the auto market here. It is very competitive.Don't you guys pay upwards of 9lacs almost for a top of the line Cultus?. Whatever.

@salik990

The Indian Altis is wired for bluetooth, i-pod and other geegaws, none of which i use while driving.

@All

Thanx for your comments.

[tauseen123]

Nice review Nick bhai!

@ abdkhan;
Same vendor perhaps ?

[TrueEye]

Reply By : nickatnite on 9/1/2008 9:41:35 PM
@saadsmalik

How can you say that this car is 'expensive", when the Pak Corolla costs almost 20lacs with minimal equipmets levels.??

if those tiny little tacky lights aka fog lights are making you crow about your “high spec” corolla, then let it be like that, i cant help you with that. Apart from those tiny lights, pakistani corolla is not low on specs whatsoever and as a matter of fact, who gives a crap to those lights. But I guess its just that bharat toyota wanted to give a little something to their countrymen to brag about, and they've very much succeeded I must say. Talking about climate control so its just a marketing strategy and IMC will definitely introduce it in its upcoming models to keep their customer base strong. Remember earlier models of civic didnt come with that in-dash music system but now they have introduced it in their new models.

Now lets come to the price issue, if you think its unfair to compare prices in local currencies, let us convert it to US dollars, the worlds standard currency, fair enough?

as of today:

1 US$=43.25 INR

Indian Corolla's top spec model costs 1.45m INR, so

1,450,000/43.25=US$ 33,526

Now contrast it with Pakistani corolla

1 US$=77 PKR

Pakistani Corolla's top spec model costs 1.79m PKR

1,790,000/77=US$ 23,247

you guys are paying more than US$ 10,000 extra just for those tacky fog lights!!! BAAAHAHAHAHHAH...total rip off (y)

now tell me dude, who are being ripped off?

[Ducati]

Uh oh another passionate "corolla" thread

[sam007]

@TrueEye

(Y)(Y)

[TrueEye]

how are you nick?

[nickatnite]

@TrueEye

Mighty fine. Thank you for asking. How are you?.8-|

[KamranAslam]

@TrueEye: nice explanation for few of the Pakistani kids who say rolla in India is cheap.

@nick - previous rolla was not that much on road in India -- and will be the fate for this one, you guys have some nice local made cars, so it wont make a difference.

Where as we: have cars on our finger tips to decide Roll,Civic, Cultus, Cuore, mehran, Sunny, Lancer or the imported left over.

[nickatnite]

@kamranAslam

I wasn't going to join issue with TrueEye over the exchange rate pricing and i'm not going to join issue with you either. Ever heard of PPP?. It is only here that i find the exchange rate touted about for all and sundry. Pricing mechanisms vary from country to country and is a Cost Accountng exercise.

You are right about the Corolla not being much of a hit here. They have far more models in the same category to choose from, maybe that's why. Cheers!

[KamranAslam]

^^^are you refering to Purchasing Power ????

[Nannu]

Pricing is a marketing strategy. Its not simply a function of material cost + manufacturing + profit. It is combination of several other things such as competitors pricing and an integral part of a business model.

Typically the car industry will price a product on its perceived value. Do you really think a Rs. 3 crore Ferrari cost that much to manufacture? But the company thinks that a customer will pay that much.

I remember the classic pricing strategy Volvo India adopted when they started manufacturing high end CV’s India. Their product was priced several times (not just a few percent more !) than Tata or Ashok Leyland products. Granted Tata did not have a comparable line up then. But still the price disparity was overwhelmingly huge. Everyone started painting doomsday picture for Volvo. But they remained steady. And today although Tata offers similar products at a much discounted rate, Volvo has a monopoly in the segment. They are sitting pretty at a very high price point, while Tata is having difficult holding its lower price line in view of the input cost hike.

Does it mean the manufacturing cost has no importance in the final price? Of course not ! Especially if it’s a competitive segment like Mehran.

Toyota feels Indians will pay Rs. 1.4 Million. So they price the new Corolla accordingly. And do remember they manufacture most of it in India compared to CBU import in Pak. So logically the cost should be lower in Inda. But as a strategy and perceived value they would stick to that price point.

We shall quickly see if this price strategy is correct or not. If the product doesn’t move than you will find a “revision” and a new variant with a cut throat pricing.

I personally think that Rs. 14 lacs is a very reasonable price for an automatic transmission, Bluetooth, blah blah, fully loaded Corolla considering the purchasing power of its focus segment.

[Avi]

I find the defence of the Indians on 33k $+ price a bit feeble. Here is a suggestion to all Indians.

There is a huge Market of Right Hand Drive Cars in Dubai/Sharjah. Call one of the dealers and request a direct Import. Even at full 65% Custom duties, it will turn out cheaper.

Try buying in a group or bulk, Al-Futtaim (UAE Dealer) may also consider a discount.

Fact: Most Western and Japanese/Korean Car companies are taking Indians for a ride. They pay that money to Film stars and high voltage advertizing campaigns. Thats the reason the cars are expensive in India. Indians feel pretty happy comparing prices of Suzuki with Pakistan. Its the full Sedans that are cheaper in Pakistan. Indians are being taken for a ride. Pricing strategy my foot. More white collared MBA doling their usual trash and people ripped off.