Daewoo chief decries unethical competition

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, APRIL 5. Mr. S. G. Awasthi, Chairman, Daewoo Motors India, and Mr. Byung-Soh Min, Dy. Managing Director, Communication and Services Division, announced the introduction of two new models - a value added Nexia and a Model Year 2000 Matiz.

Briefing presspersons here on the progress made by the company in meeting customer aspirations, they said the company believed in adding value to the products without increasing the price.

Alone among the small car manufacturers, Daewoo has not increased the price while at the same time improving the performance.

Pointing out that the Indian market had grown by more than 50 per cent during 1999-2000, Mr. Awasthi said that the market would grow at 15 per cent in the coming years. This was because of the huge pent-up demand.

Indian customers were the most discerning and were prepared to wait and watch even as the car makers struggled to provide them the right choice.

Secondly, having entered the car owner segment, customers were keen on moving up the value chain. It was reasonable to expect that the demand for cars would continue to grow as the economy was in good shape, he said

Daewoo Motors also believes that the up-country and rural markets hold the key to a phenomenal growth in car demand. Among the steps taken by the company to tap this potential are extending the dealer network - the company has added 15 more dealers in semi-urban areas, besides a package including with financial services is being offered on the spot at those areas.

Daewoo Motors, according to Mr. Awasthi, believes in healthy competition. Making a pointed reference to the spate of recent advertisements that criticised certain car brands and their manufactures in an ``unethical'' way, he said that there was plenty of scope for comparative advertisements provided they were based on ethical standards. Unfortunately the advertisements released by one of their competitors appeared wholly against the corporate value system in India. ``It is like hitting below the belt,'' he said. If such practices were allowed to continue, the entire car industry would suffer, he said. Competition was just beginning in the country and nothing should be done to harm the industry's interests.

Mr. Awasthi said that last year the company sold 40,000 cars and had a turnover of over Rs. 1,200 crores. The Matiz which had become popular really took off only from June last year, he said. This year, the company aims to sell 80,000 cars and achieve a turnover of Rs. 3,000 crores. There is a huge export demand for Matiz and the company exported 1,200 cars to Italy, Egypt and Sri Lanka. Domestic demand, however, will be met first, according to Mr. Awasthi. There is an even greater potential for the export of engines and gear boxes. Daewoo is now working on two shifts at Surajpur and right now is making 6,000 cars per month. The production will go up to 7,500 cars from July.

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