September 2009 Indian Car Sales Figures & Analysis

[wildon]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

I think that a lot of people waited until they checked out what the Jazz, Ritz and Punto had to offer before deciding on the i 20

Yes its true in my case too.

[pk_del]

Hi,

Let me pen down my thoughts on the grand success of i20:

I drove my land lords i20 at night for few minutes just to park it and I was like wow...what an interior and what an amazing music system...

In my opinion i20 has the best interiors in the premium hatch at par with Fabia...The "wow" factor plays an important role here....

Pricing...Initially when i20 was launched everyone was thinking well this car is expensive and may not have the VFM quotient...

next comes Jazz and suddenly i20 looks a tremendous VFM car...As everyone pointed out Jazz has helped i20 sales...

Now as a prospective informed buyer who is looking for a 5+ L (not exceeding 7L on road price) hatch I will have the following options:

Swift, Ritz, i20, Punto, Fabia and Jazz...

Swift and Ritz - too many swift's; design 4+ year old; long waiting list for diesel
Ritz - good car with not too generous interior space; like or hate rear design;but with Maruti's A.S.S and peace of mind experience.
Jazz - excellent car priced badly.
Fabia - excellent interiors, but was priced badly initially. And costly A.S.S
Punto - good car with average interiors and having Fiat reputation (it is improving but old things die hard).

Now the buyer is left only with i20. Advantages he has is Hyundai's reputation, good A.S.S, peace of mind...

In my opinion Punto sales can improve, but Fiat has to do lot of hardwork:

1. improve the interiors
2. Awareness - Lot many people havent heard that a car by name Punto exists in India
3. Sort out all the niggles

For Jazz, they have to offer more at 50,000 - 1 L less than the current price.

-PK

[AirWind]

Originally Posted by GTO

Elantra production stopped.

Really, was the Elantra in production until Sep'09?

[vikrantj]

My opinion is that Hyundai should bring an Elantra in the market maybe some facelifted version.Squeeze it between a Verna and Sonata. Elantra was way ahead of time IMO when it was launched. Now is the best time to review it.

--Vikrant

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

I think that a lot of people waited until they checked out what the Jazz, Ritz and Punto had to offer before deciding on the i 20 - I know that I did.

Very true. The market must have sat on the fence until all the summer launches were done with, and then made their decision.

I still feel that the Jazz helped the i20. In that, its pricing made the i20 a VFM proposition overnight!

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

In India, inorder for a car to be a success, it should have a brand image, character or mileage. Getz lacks all of these.

In addition, the Getz may have been ahead of its time. It was launched before the Swift and at a 5.5 lakh OTR pricetag. I don't think the market was ready to pay 5.5 lakhs for a Hyundai hatchback then. Nice hatch though. Great space, ride quality and overall fit / finish.

Originally Posted by ported_head

Didn't they stop production for the petrol Swift?

Not that I've heard of. AFAIK, the Swifts production is in full swing for both engines.

Originally Posted by AirWind

Really, was the Elantra in production until Sep'09?

Just wanted to clarify the "0" entry on the excel sheet.

[SkyWalker]

Originally Posted by VahanPujari

i20 - great going. Seems exceeded expectations of most people

Originally Posted by GTO

Oh, I'm eating my words and how. The Indian market is the most unpredictable in the world! Who would have imagined a 6 - 7 lakh hatchback selling 4000 units in a month!

this surprised me too - and i am sure quite a few here in TBHP. I expected i20 to go the Fabia way.


So looks like Jazz is the first market dud from Honda. Just as well - hubris should get a setback - and hopefully this improves their pricing strategy. Toyota did an excellent job here with Fortuner and Alts.

[diffsoft]

What I find amazing and to an extent sad at the same time is that it was Fabia that created the premium hatchback segment with its launch in AutoExpo 2008. All the goodies that were thought to be the preserve of the sedans and premium cars were all made available - like air bags, parking sensors, height adjustable seats, adjustable steering, great interiors and of course quality fit and finish. Further a diesel engine as well.

But driven by maybe poor engine spec, discreet withdrawal of 1.4 petrol and almost certainly bad A*S*S it now sells far less than what it sold last year (YTD till Sept down 37%).

Competitors however have capitalized on what Skoda uncovered and making hay! The premium hatchback now sells about 13,000 cars monthly from 0 in Dec 2007. It sold 13,350 cars in Sept between i20, Punto, Jazz, Ritz and Fabia. Fabia sold only 7% of that!

[amit27]

i20 sales are a thumbs up for all the car companies targetting the Indian market for Premium hatchbacks what it proves it if you have a good product and have good features and engine to back up and yes some peace of mind you can sell it . Punto could have done better but is let down by poor interiors , we can expect more from Nissan & VW as they are next n horizon all the best to them and may we have more choice .

[CoolFire]

Originally Posted by GTO

Utility Vehicles:
• It's a fight between the Toyota Innova and the Mahindra Xylo. Despite being priced about 2 lakhs more, the Innova outsells the Xylo 2:1 (4123 vs 2140). Toyota's reputation and Jap quality have found many semi-urban and rural fans too.

Seems the much touted success of Xylo is actually waning off. Especially comparing to other Mahindras' great run (Bolero and Scorpio)

[GTO]

^^ The world on the street (rural that is, and as told to me by a Mahindra dealer) is that the Bolero is far more "robust" than the Xylo. Semi-urban and rural buyers seem to regard the Bolero more than they do the Xylo. Taxi companies prefer the Innova.

[ACM]

Originally Posted by GTO

^^ The world on the street (rural that is, and as told to me by a Mahindra dealer) is that the Bolero is far more "robust" than the Xylo. Semi-urban and rural buyers seem to regard the Bolero more than they do the Xylo. Taxi companies prefer the Innova.

Earlier the Taxi's went for the Scorpio, Sumo and then later the Xylo. Only really premium taxi's were the Innovas now after the Xylo launch a lot of taxi owners are going in for the base innova model, as they can charge a premium of the Xylo and Scorpio for the innova with eternal car life and decent fuel effeciency.

Ironic actually.

[rganeshiyer]

Is it the end of the Palio era ? The car that delighted the enthuasiasts and terrorised the common man seems to have finally found it's resting place. However, FIAT A.S.S apart , it's a gem of a car and one of the first to focus on build and ride quality. RIP Palio. I will hold on to mine for some more years however :-)

[entropy]

Originally Posted by GTO

^^ The world on the street (rural that is, and as told to me by a Mahindra dealer) is that the Bolero is far more "robust" than the Xylo. Semi-urban and rural buyers seem to regard the Bolero more than they do the Xylo.

Very true. This is from my first-hand experience where country folks first vehicle of choice is a Bolero. People put its "robustness" attribute truly in high regard. The general perception among the folks is that Mahindra vehicles in general are very reliable (mechanically) and can take to country-side like no other vehicle this side of 10 lakhs.

[rganeshiyer]

Most of our rural folks buy vehicles due to power posturing by their "expert" friends and family. In rural India, once a brand is considered robust it stays that way till they actually see something that can match the tractors. Just talking from experience of hearing my uncles in our native village talk about Ambassador endlessly.

[rajneeesh]

Have the City and the Civic sales actually gone up or is it the HSCIL's pushing stocks to the dealers.