Every weekend, a convoy of 10 Hyundai Santros leaves a different city centre to explore the deep rural pockets of India. If it was the hamlets in Haryana last weekend, this time it was a cluster of villages near Mathura.
The convoy is on the hunt for prospective buyers of the small car. Company executives and dealer representatives who fan out each week believe the people in villages have the money and desire to own a car, but they will buy one only if it is sold at their doorstep.
By the end of the week, the convoy is expected to be reduced to just the men, the cars left with their proud owners in the hamlets.
The convoy pitches its tent at Rauchi Bangar, a village. The centre of attraction is a van playing loud music and decked in Santro posters. It is soon surrounded by children -- they are aware of Santro as much as its brand ambassador, Shah Rukh Khan.
Barely 25 metres away, Toran Singh, the village headman, addresses a small gathering. Singh explains why he prefers the Santro after changing 27 cars in the past five years.
The men listen, nodding.
Two men agree to buy the car then and there. A deal is made with a financier at hand to provide instant credit. The prospective buyers are told the cars can be theirs if they are salaried employees or businessmen. A rich farmer can get a loan on collateral.
Clearly, Singh is Hyundai's mascot in this village, and the strategy is working.
The festivities continue into the night. By evening, a huge crowd gathers at a park where the car salesmen have organised a fair.
There is a shamiana with a couple of Santros parked inside, and, of course, a banker and a sales team. The park is close to the mandi. Hyundai executives are hopeful the footfalls will increase when the shops close.
"We got 100 enquiries on the first day, of which 10 are hot - we can expect them to convert in the next month," says Sandeep Kapoor, managing director of RelioQuick, the agency organising the rural promos for Hyundai.
Last week in Haryana, eight vehicles were sold, two for cash, in the first two days. In a pilot project in Chhattisgarh, 25 Santros were sold in 25 days. In that state alone, rural promotion has helped Santro sales grow over 40 per cent in 2002.
As people pour into the shamiana, most are asking the questions of prospective first-time buyers. Others have brought their families to have a look at the car. Hyundai does not have a dealership in Mathura. It has one in Agra, 40 km away.
Says BVR Subbu, president, Hyundai Motor India: "We found that limited awareness and inadequate service back-up were factors that tended to decrease assurance. To really grow, we needed to grow in the small towns."
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