GM India unveils Chevrolet Optra 1.6; ad campaign to break next month

In a clear move to capture a sizeable market share in the lower C segment - which accounts for about 82,000 units annually and has players like Honda City, Hyundai Accent Tornado, Baleno and Mitsubishi Lancer vying for consumer attention - of the automobile market in the country, General Motors India (GMI) has launched a competitively priced version of its the premium mid-size sedan - Chevrolet Optra 1.6. At the launch function in Delhi yesterday, Aditya Vij, president and managing director, GMI, said, "The Chevrolet Optra 1.6 represents an extension of GM India's commitment to provide more for less. With Optra 1.6 we are seeking to take our competitive edge to a new dimension by raising the bar in terms of the value proposition that it stands for."

The other variant of the model, the Optra 1.8, is positioned in the upper C segment. Toyota Corolla and Skoda Octavia are the two big players in this segment, which accounts for 16,000 units per annum in sales. The manual and automatic transmission variants of the Optra 1.8 model are priced between Rs 7.89 lakh and Rs 10.29 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). In contrast, the Optra 1.6 is priced at Rs 7.29 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) and its LS variant costs 7.84 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).

With this price advantage, GMI plans to go whole hog in promoting Optra 1.6 with a well-orchestrated communication plan. The budget earmarked for the year is in the region of Rs 15-20 crore. The television commercial for Optra is already on air; and a print campaign - specifically to drive home the price advantage of the Optra 1.6 and devised by Enterprise Nexus - would be unveiled in January next year.

Like in the case of the launch of Optra 1.8, GMI's focus will be on ground events. "One such event (organised around Optra 1.8) was Max Mileage Magic, where owners of Chevrolet Optra were encouraged to participate in a rally," says Amit Dutta, vice- president, marketing, sales and aftersales, GMI. Encouraged by the response of the rally, GMI has planned a full calendar of events to promote Chevrolet Optra in 2004.

GMI has also set its target high. Chevrolet Optra has sold 4,000 units so far and has a market share of 23 per cent in the upper C segment. With the launch of Optra 1.6, GMI hopes to take this share to 28 per cent in the next one year. © 2003 agencyfaqs!