Alto 800, the latest offering from the stables of Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL), country's favourite passenger car maker, is breaking all records by wrapping up more than 21,200 bookings within a week of its launch. The ongoing festive season is returning greater than expected results for MSIL and the new Alto 800 entry-level small car seems to have struck the perfect tone with the Indian four-wheeler enthusiasts.
Expressing his opinion on the company's growth strategy with the new Alto 800 entry-level car, Mayank Pareek, Chief Operating Officer (COO), Marketing and Sales, Maruti Suzuki India, said, "So far this festive season, there has been 15 per cent increase in overall bookings compared to last year. The growth is coming from across our models but the new Alto 800 has also received a very good response."
According to Mayank Pareek, post Alto 800's launch in country on October 16, 2012, the company has witnessed about 21,200 bookings of the Alto 800 from the domestic audience. Reportedly, MSIL's target audience has been rural and urban Indian entry-level four-wheeler vehicle sectors. Regarding the numbers or finalised bookings, Pareek said, "Out of that (21,200 bookings) we have retailed 7,000 units."
Reportedly, MSIL was sitting on more than 10,000 bookings of Alto 800 already, before the car was launched. The company had launched a number of camps in the rural areas of the country, so as to reach a greater audience. Pareek had some important points to say on the company's unique strategy, "As the market was not moving, we needed a sledge-hammer approach to push sales and adopt a very customer centric approach and launch it everywhere at our showrooms. The purchase pattern in rural areas is different from urban market and these camps have definitely helped."
