Maruti Suzuki's soon-to be launched Alto 800 seemed to have gained wide acceptance in the market, with pre-bookings for the hatchback crossing over 6,500 in just few days.
The country's largest car maker is currently expecting bookings of 10,000 cars before it closes the pre-order window.
"Despite the price remaining unknown to customers, who have not seen the car fully, we have received 6,500 bookings of the new Alto. At this rate, we are confident that it will cross 10,000 when we launch the car on October 16," Mayank Pareek, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Chief Operating Officer (Marketing and Sales), told Press trust of India.
Alto 800 is a hybrid version of Maruti's best selling cars Alto and 800 and is expected to hit the roads on Oct 16.
With the launch of the all new version of Alto, Maruti hopes to take over the small car market again. The company invested ₹470 crore on development of the vehicle.
Maruti recently saw a decline in Alto sales to 18,000 units from 25,000 between April and September. Alto was the best-selling car in the domestic market in the past eight years.
The pre-launch bookings for Alto 800 started earlier this month. Maruti is yet to reveal price details, but it's likely that the upcoming vehicle may fall in the ₹2-₹3.5 lakh zone. Among its strong competitors are Tata Nano and Hyundai EON which are similarly priced.
Alto 800 will come in three CNG and three Petrol variants. The petrol variants are expected to give a mileage of 23 kilometres per litre while the CNG model will give a mileage around 31 kilometres per litre.
