"We have sold about 1800 cars till February and we hope to close this fiscal with a sale of 3,000. The target for next financial year is 9,000 cars," HM executive director A Sankara Narayanan said. HM had earlier forecast a sales of 4,600 cars for the current fiscal and over 12,000 cars in 1999-2000.

Narayanan said the projected sale of 9,000 cars in the next fiscal was not a measly figure in view of the economic slowdown that had severely hit the automobile industry, particularly the midsize car category. "We are selling well over 500 cars per month and the demand for Lancer is picking up. We are targeting a niche segment with the car and we hope to maintain the projections," he said.

Narayanan said though HM was readyto offload 10 per cent equity in favour of Mitsubishi Motors, its technical collaborator for the Lancer project, the Japanese auto major was yet to take a decision on the matter. As per the agreement with Misubishi, the company is free to pick up 10 per cent stake in HM, India's oldest car maker.

HM, now in the throes of labour unrest at its Uttarpara factory and falling sales of its vehicles, was hopeful of driving out of the red with a sales of 24,000 units annually and a trimmed workforce, Narayanan said. In a bid to cut costs, HM had earlier proposed a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) and a three-day week at its Uttarpara factory, but workers stoutly opposed the move, saying the VRS amount of Rs 1 lakh was too meagre. "Rs 1 lakh is meagre but we cannot afford to pay more than that," Narayanan said.