[prabhuferrari]

Originally Posted by souravc

What more proof do you want when the sales trend stare at your face? Optra cannot even be termed as an also ran

Then by your definition many cars like Jazz, Accord, Civic, passat are also iffy products. Does Honda sell anything apart from city? so does it make Honda also an iffy company? Infact Vento petrol too! No offence meant. It's a dated car and there are many alternatives today. That's all. If GM is an iffy company how come they sell so many cars in other segments? How did they grow 33 % year on year? My contention here is only on the use of the word 'iffy' and not anything else.

[souravc]

Originally Posted by prabhuferrari

Then by your definition many cars like Jazz, Accord, Civic, passat are also iffy products. Does Honda sell anything apart from city? so does it make Honda also an iffy company? Infact Vento petrol too! No offence meant. It's a dated car and there are many alternatives today. That's all. If GM is an iffy company how come they sell so many cars in other segments? How did they grow 33 % year on year? My contention here is only on the use of the word 'iffy' and not anything else.

Before you labour on with your emotional points please consider the following :-
1. The cars that you are comparing Optra with were never sold at rock bottom price points ( if we ignore the latest unofficial price cuts in Jazz for the time being) rather they always had premium pricing / positioning.
2. Maybe you would care to check out the technical specs and the engineering nitty gritties of the Vento petrol before commenting that its a dated car . Neither the tech nor the car (given that its launched in 2010) can by even the farthest stretch of imagination be called dated - looks are subjective so if you are referring to it as dated then I have no comments to make.
3. I searched twice over , did I mention anything about GM or even Chevy in my post ? I compared a ANHC with Optra - ANHC is a car whose sales have roared back to rocking the charts in trying conditions the moment it has been priced right while Optra remains defiantly rock bottom even if its got the least sticker price. IMO there is something iffy ( defined as questionable or doubtful ) which prevents a buyer decision .

If you think that Chevy Optra is a great product / brand , you are entitled to your opinion as i am to mine

[prabhuferrari]

Since you mentioned the brand, I had referred to Chevy. And when I said dated it was Optra, not Vento! Cheers. There is no emotion here. Apologies if the post had come across as something else. It was just a clarification on why you said iffy. As you said to each his or her opinion.

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by arvi86

The all-new Fluidic Verna rocks the sales charts with amazing sales numbers. Hyundai has done a brilliant job with this car with a nice combination of superb styling, great engine options and feature-packed interiors. In contrast, Ford has had a quiet start with its global Fiesta unlike the Verna which came with a bang and swept the segment leaders off their feet.

As it is, the Fiesta lost out on the looks department to the brilliant looking new Verna and then Ford blundered in waiting for Hyundai to release the Verna before releasing the new Fiesta. They thus lost the first mover advantage, and also further added to their woes with the disastrous pricing.

[.sushilkumar]

my 2 cents :-

Fiat Punto - IMO , the no's are ok, considering the efforts of FIAT in marketing and sales & ever increasing interest rates . to give a idea

HDFC raises home loan rates by 50 bps - The Times of India

this is today.

LINEA- is a worry IMO. where as punto has taken a hit of some 150 no;s , LINES has fallen flat .

NEW FORD FIESTA - IMO, they are over confident seeing the FIGO;s success but still i think they should pickup once the market has settled (interest rate wise ).

those who know USP of ford & Fiats will still buy it. unfortunately the no; s of such people is negligible in india. blame it on sheep herds mentality

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by .sushilkumar

those who know USP of ford & Fiats will still buy it. unfortunately the no; s of such people is negligible in india. blame it on sheep herds mentality

People here in teambhp know usp of both ford and fiat, and mostly make informed decisions, but does it fully reflect on sales only for these brands?

Its easy to blame herd mentality, but a product thats not perceived vfm will never succeed through word of mouth publicity, whichever be the manufacturer. Some strong cases being jazz and a-Star.

[manishk83]

Originally Posted by figo_mba

1. Fiat! Fiat! What are you doing ? Why are you so bent upon going under ?

And they don't learn! Case in point: The new Punto 'Diesel for Pterol' campaign. What a load of c@#*. Why would anyone who wants to own a diesel Punto be willing to buy a petrol Punto and hope that he wins the lottery and gets a diesel one. The customer'd rather bet 100 Rupees and buy a lottery ticket than bet 4.5L in the hope of getting a 5.5L rupee car.

Originally Posted by torquecurve

Another point being made was about the Nano, sure the Nano willl take a hit. It was meant for the Great Indian Middle class who used a scooter/bike. But now, can the middle class guy afford to pay the EMI for the car (a very 'low' 4K compared to a bikes 1-3K) + reduced FE (compared to bike) and suddenly with the reasons above, the Great Indian Middle class cannot afford this and will make do with a bike.

Please don't generalize! In a population of 1.2 bn, as there'd be people who are put off by the high EMI and low FE, there'd also be lots of people who, 5 yrs ago when they purchased a bike, couldn't have afforded a bike but now, with their incomes risen, can!

I feel the reason is closer to what others have mentioned in the thread:

1. Cheap tag!
2. A decent spec'ed Nano which has power steering is too close to an Alto. And with a lower middle-class family, a car is a 7/8-yr purchase. They'd rather pay 20k extra and own a safe Alto than be seen with a cheap Nano.
3. The cars catching fire incidents. And you just have to read the vernacular newspapers to understand how these sporadic incidents have been played up.
4. And because of that, the word-of-mouth hasn't been too good. And the section of people that could be potential Nano customers don't value Individualism as high.

It's ironic that Ratan Tata's dream was to make commuting safer for those travelling with their entire family on two-wheelers; and these same people are shunning away from the car which is cheap. A human mind is such a complex phenomenon.

[rajchetan]

Originally Posted by GTO

Quick points from my side:

Beautifully put. have been waiting for this months Report Card.

Originally Posted by smartcat

Top 20 Models By Sales (Year To Date)

Excellent Compilation. This post deserves to be moved to the First Page.

Petrol Prices:- It would be nice if we could get the Petrol Vs. Diesel Comparison to comment on weather the petrol price increase has in fact effected the sales.
Choices:- I10, Vista, Figo, Punto, Linea, are all facing the heat with the gradual decrease in sales, and mind it both Vista and Figo are more popular due to their respective Diesel Hearts. Hence i am sure the decrease is due to competition rather than type of fuel.
Nano:- its a Yo YO!! not Nano.. Lovely Car. Cant seem to catch the mass appeal. Doubt the revised version or Diesel Heart will have any say in it becoming a success.

Will wait for September Report to confirm if the New Car's are actually trend setters. (Verna, Fiesta, Beat Diesel, Liva, Fluence)

[ashok_lat]

The competition from other Manufacturers like Toyota, GM, VW, Ford had a good roll in bringing the sales volume of the big 3. One more reason could be increase in Fuel costs. The major 3 are more dominant in rural market which is very cost sensitive than any other factors. So the recent price hike might also add a bit of downfall of sales in the rural markets.

[vshetty]

Originally Posted by GTO

Quick points from my side:

............
- Things continue to look good for the Etios, though the Liv ........

You and the team of moderators are doing really well, by bringing about practical, viable and forum-friendly improvements all the the time, the ideas are good and the implementations are better.

[fuel_addict]

The new format is a welcome change. Great work.

This probably is the only month when Swift sales have been (will be) in 3 digits. Can expect the new Swift launch to enable the car to achieve 5 digit sales again. Will be interesting to see if that reflects in the Aug or the Sept sales charts.

Excellent numbers for Verna. Pipping City by a slender margin and Vento by a mile is commendable. Vento for some reason (lack of features?) hasn't been going past the 3K mark.

Good to see Toyota's numbers. They've had a bumper month. Altis at 1K+ is a surprise especially when the Cruze & Laura were on its tail in the preceding months.

Linea numbers are decreasing every month. Fiat can do no right, it seems.

New Fiesta is a non starter, thanks to Ford's over optimistic pricing.

[vasanthn21]

I believe the Big 3 are going to change.

After dominating the market for years now, Honda and Toyota are going to pull a trick which Appple/Samsung pulled over Nokia.

Yes, I am comparing Honda with Apple, Samsung with Toyota and Nokia with Maruti!

Note: This is my personal opinion, do not intend to hurt anybody!

[thesilentone]

Honda has once again proved that as far as petrol variants are concerned, the City is the king of the C segment. Diesel variants are the ones that shore up the Verna & Vento sales.

Fiat has to do a 'Nano' to survive in the Indian market. IMO unless Fiat comes up with a brand new small car at a mouth watering price, it may not be able to put up sufficient sales to sustain it's Indian operations.

[aaggoswami]

GTO, excellent comparison numbers. Hats off to TBHP!

1) Fiat. Enough said. Now it rests on luck, purely luck. Verna has hit Fiat very very hard.

2) Lower Dzire and SX4 sales. Mainly due to strike. Ritz has given a good performance. Wagon R doing nice considering only petrol motor. i10 despite have multiple engine options is not doing that good. I suppose the i20 has eaten into sales and sales of i20 are indeed eaten up by lower variants of Verna. A-star number not good. I heard that Maruti is marketing A-star as a women's car, actually that should be the other way round. Estilo getting lost in the crowd along with UV-A.

3) Innova, Xylo, Scorpio had a good month. Nice to see this. They are more practical and suit the Indian operating conditions much better.

4) City has given a stellar number. One of the best month for city IMO. Despite the petrol price hike and perennial climbing interest rates, the price cut by Honda did the trick.

5) Etios will need a diesel which will be beneficial considering the utilitarian placement in the market ( and consumer's buying radar ).

6) Beat is a surprise, but I heard they had good discounts and many incentive schemes better than, say Hyundai or Maruti.

7) Nano. The too minimalistic approach is not helping the matters. But I still believe that the car can do better numbers. Marketing is not that good for Tata.

8) VW has given a fair performance, but at the same time Nissan has to look forward to improvement. They have to increase the dealer number while maintain a good quality experience at dealership. Micra is a product which is priced slightly higher for what it provides but has useful features like electric folding mirrors which are becoming necessity.

9) Ford. Figo is not doing as good as it should. I actually like the diesel for city as it has got good dynamics + a good frugal diesel for city. Suffering for what I am not sure about. New Ford Fiesta is going to take a hit at the current level of pricing. Competitors have better motors ( i.e. Vento and Verna ) and equipment at almost similar price levels. Overpriced by over 1 lakh IMO.

10) Mitsubishi. Either work really hard and put grey matter to use or leave the Indian market. Wont survive for long with the current range of products and market placements. Some of the best machines, but lost in the crowd.

[xPK]

Originally Posted by manishk83

And they don't learn! Case in point: The new Punto 'Diesel for Pterol' campaign. What a load of c@#*. Why would anyone who wants to own a diesel Punto be willing to buy a petrol Punto and hope that he wins the lottery and gets a diesel one. The customer'd rather bet 100 Rupees and buy a lottery ticket than bet 4.5L in the hope of getting a 5.5L rupee car.

Well said Manish. Looking @ FIAT cars on the road, I'm guessing, 70% of FIAT's sales comes from Diesel variants. The most hilarious thing is the reason FIAT stating behind this offer. They say "Petrol prices are sky rocketing, hence they want to give opportunity to prospective car buyer to buy Diesel cars at affordable price. (Where actually they want to clear off petrol cars). I was under impression that Honda is the one taking longest nap in India until recently when they cut ANHC prices by 50k, not to forget "unconditional" discounts offered over that price, which is around 50-70k with some freebies, which indeed made ANHC cheaper by 1L+.
FIAT on the other hand is in hibernation like "Kumbhakaran" from "Ramayan", showing no signs of waking up.

Linea was the undisputed king of looks and road presence until now, but new Verna and Fiesta, if not matching, neither are far behind in esthetics. Still no news of 1.6 MJD, no separate dealers or "Brand Shops" which they declared in ancient days, I'm really wondering what damage control actions FIAT is taking (if they are aware of term "Damage Control")

OT here, but is anybody taking bets for "Which car 1.6MJD will make first appearance in, SX4 or Linea?".

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

1) Fiat. Enough said. Now it rests on luck, purely luck. Verna has hit Fiat very very hard.

+1. Linea seem to be the first victim of Verna.