Sale of D-segment cars on the rise
New Delhi—Though the car market overall is moving sluggishly, the pricier cars such as the Mercedes and Honda are seeing increased action.
Mercedes Benz India, which launched its Rs 20.85 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) C-Class in May, has already sold 350 units and is confident of clocking the targeted 800 units by the end of the calendar year, says a company spokesperson. Further, the company has a pending order of 50 C-Class cars this month.
Also, consider the performance of another D-segment competitor, the Honda Accord. Launched early July, the Rs 15-16 lakh Accord (Rs 14.95 lakh for the MT version and Rs 15.75 lakh for the automatic variant ex-showroom Delhi) has already sold 300 units, "slightly more than what we expected," says Ananda Mohan Gupta, GMmarketing, Honda Siel.
Another D segment car, the Hyundai Sonata launched mid-July has also seen an above average demand.
Hyundai Motor India, say sources in the component industry, is simply registering orders in its showrooms instead of accepting bookings, because its production schedule would allow it to push about 400 cars between now and end-September.
In less than 10-days since its launch, the car is said to have generated enough interest for the company to deliver about 55 units in July alone and absorb all the 400 to be produced between now and September-end.
With the really, up the ladder, Mercedes Benz S-Class having also sold 53 units since January this year and 25 orders pending for July month alone, the performance of the D-segment doesn’t seem to be an aberration.
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Cable TV may get costlier
New Delhi—Cable TV subscription rates in the New Delhi have skyrocketed over the past year or so, with almost all channels going pay. Rates have shot up from Rs 100-125 levels to Rs 200-225 levels.
Now with the Sony bouquet of channels, including SET, SET Max, AXN and CNBC, slated to go pay from September, another bout of rate hikes may be on the cards.
Rates in Delhi’s satellite towns like Noida are hovering at Rs 200-225 levels. In South Delhi cable subscription rates have even touched Rs 300.
Delhi is also moving towards uniform cable subscription rates. The uniform system is also likely to ensure that future subscription rate hikes by cable operators are easier to implement.
Sources point out that the uniformity in cable subscription rates is a result of co-ordination between major operators like Zee’s Siticable and Hathaway’s Win Cable.
The cable companies have found their own justification for the hike. Industry estimates indicate that the cost of service per subscriber per month is Rs 90, which added to the pay channel cost of Rs 150 makes the total cost around Rs 240.
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