After the success of the petrol variant of the Nissan Micra in the domestic market, bookings for the upcoming diesel version of the car have started in a phase-wise manner across Nissan dealerships in the country. Bookings in Ahmedabad started from Tuesday.
"We already have 17 bookings of the car in just two days, and at a time when markets are closed post Diwali. People have been waiting for the Micra diesel and we expect to have around 400-500 bookings before we start deliveries", informed Sukhbir Bagga, director, Group Planet Petal, the Nissan dealership in Ahmedabad.
The new variant of the Micra is expected to hit the market around end-December or the first week of January. The Ahmedabad dealership has been having around three-four bookings every day for Micra petrol. Bagga now expects to have six-seven additional bookings per day for the diesel variant.
He added, "Gujarat is a very matured market for diesel cars and there is traditionally a high demand for diesel variants. More so for the Nissan Micra, which has seen a great response across the state in pockets like Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot apart from Ahmedabad". Planet Petal has so far delivered around 300 Micras (petrol) so far, and is yet to deliver over 200 cars.
Over 60 per cent of the net sales of the Maruti Suzuki Swift in Gujarat comes from the diesel variant, around 20 per cent of the Hyundai i-20 sales and over 60 percent of Ford Figo sales in the state too come from their diesel versions, claimed industry insiders. Nissan launched the Micra in July this year and has so far sold around 4,500 cars.