Team-BHP - August 2011 : Indian Car Sales & Analysis

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- - August 2011 : Indian Car Sales & Analysis (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/107160-august-2011-indian-car-sales-analysis-9.html)

Why isn't the Renault Fluence on the list? Does it mean none sold?
They have been doing a major ad blitz on TV - has it made any impact on buyers?

Couple of observation

1 - Are Wagon R and i10 really belong to segment B ?
2 - If so, why not we have another segment like B.5 for cars like Swift, Indica/Vista, ...?
3 - Similarly, Dzire doesnt belong to Segment C when Honda City & Manza belong to segment C.

Regarding the sales, its good to see Safari sold more than T-Fort :)
Aria may be on lower number since people may be waiting on 4X2 versions in September.

Prem.

Well done Honda! Just goes to prove that corrective measures can resurrect a champ! On the other hand, two extremely capable cars - Fiat Linea and the New Fiesta seen to be struggling due to a lack of strategic direction and a flawed pricing policy respectively.

And what is ailing the Nano? Tata needs to stop the slide. Have they shelved plans for a CVT version?

Linea and Nano numbers are surprising. I think Fiat will eventually pull the plug on Linea. The current Linea numbers are unsustainable. Nano is continuing its roller-coaster ride and unfortunately for Tatas its going downwards.

Quote:

Originally Posted by C300 (Post 2493166)

The current Linea numbers are unsustainable. Nano is continuing its roller-coaster ride and unfortunately for Tatas its going downwards.

I predicted the possibility of this down for Nano 6 months back.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post2193809

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaviprem (Post 2493123)

Logically it should be
1.A (Nano) , 2.A+ (Alto) , 3.B(Santro) 4.B+(Swift),5.C(D'zire) , 6.C+(Manza),7.D(Accord),8.D+(Merc C-class),9.E.( 50Lakh BMW) ,10.F (RR 1 crore)

Quote:

Originally Posted by carboy (Post 2493202)

I predicted the possibility of this down for Nano 6 months back.

Just when we thought that the Nano fires have been doused by TM, one more Nano goes up in flames in Anand Gujarat. Is this the last nail in Nano's coffin? This is one of the major reasons for the dwindling Nano sales month on month. Now it seems to be an impossible task to get back the lost customer confidence in Nano.

Nano after Nano, one more Nano catches fire in Anand, Gujarat | Rush Lane

Quote:

Originally Posted by AutoIndian (Post 2493221)

Anyways It is catching fire with Harnesses and requires lot of electrical upgrades, why not make it electric.

Make it electric with 120+ mile range and I Promise To buy one for myself TATA.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AutoIndian (Post 2493221)

Did anyone notice, that there are more often Nanos are catching fire in Gujarat, than elsewhere in India. In fact, almost all of the Nano fires after Tata analysis of the fires have happened in Gujarat. The much publicised Safari burning incident by the owner has too happened in Gujarat. It seems that the Tata Dealers in Gujarat are incompetent or probably making few extra bucks by not letting the mechanic service the Nano but any other bigger car, due to which these incidents recur.

For the much applauded Honda City Resurgence/ Revival, I feel giving credit to the City is not all correct. Here is my analysis:

- The city is the best petrol sedan in its class, which offers 90% of the value of the next higher category (Civic, Corolla, Cruze, Fluence, Laura & Jetta) of at 75% cost (even lower when the Europeans are brought in picture). In fact it is as (at times probably more spacious) than the above cars, has a big boot (505 Litres), has interiors in lighter (Beige) shade that Indians associate with premiumness, are robust to a great extent (more than SX4), have a balanced ride (compare ANHV with current ANHC), have very good mileage & reliability record, the dealers are competent enough & Indians go gaga for Honda/ Toyota/ Maruti & the likes which pulls enough customers to dealership (for similar reasons).
Further, the reduced price was a temptation, which not many could ignore &/or overcome.

- But, these are the Days of Diesels... the diesel models of almost all (except Ford, due to absurd pricing, workman like interiors & relatively weaker engines... I have test driven it) are selling like hot cakes. Consider this, a buyer shortlists a ANHV or Vento (diesel), but when he reaches the dealership, they do not have time out of delivering diesel cars to the existing customers & are unable to attend him. Add to his misery there is queue when it comes to allocation of car to him & the queue is 9 miles (months) long (as quoted).
Poor chap drops the idea to buy the diesel, he tries the petrol & somehow gets to drive the different petrols (barring the Fiat Linea T-Jet, which chooses to ignore for his best) & realizes that the Honda City is the best in the money he has at his disposal. He buys the City which is available in a month or so, so he need not continue suffering in is smaller car. Plus, his parents are also happy that the mamma's boy has made a safe choice & that too a sedan, & not a diesel hatch i20).

Guess this could be reason for resurgence of Honda City.
After all this bantering, I still have no doubts that City is best petrol car in its class, & the safest choice too. But, I have heard rumours that City's prices may be revised upwards once the updated/upgraded model is launched, in which case the sales could be adversely affected.

Hope my scenario building was logical, not boring & gave food for some fresh thoughts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by doxinboy (Post 2491696)

Honda City has once again claimed the crown of C segment. What a simple price correction can do. I still fail to understand why so much petrol machines are selling when the competent diesel mill is available at the similar price bracket. I feel if VW can set it's production issues right, the Vento will regain the ground.

My repeated claim that most people decide on the car and then fuel type or variant is vindicated :)

It is a handful of us who decide on the feature/variant or fuel type first.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xingamazon (Post 2492082)

Again, there is a month I hate the most.

I would love it if the cars with waiting period start dropping in sales, but unfortunately that never happens.

I have always seen cars in waiting period selling more and thus resulting in more waiting period.
Cars like Vento, Etios, Dzire, ANHV and now Swift all have huge waiting period damn I hate it when they sell a lot.
I keep wishing these guys will learn the lesson hard way, but that is seldom happening. :(

Let me ask this question point blank, I understand Vento and Etios not having enough capacity to produce cars.

But when Maruti can manage to produce around 25K Altos and 10K WagonRs per month and sell them off the shelf. Why cant they produce 7K Swift per month and sell then off the shelf. I am guessing its just that they want the notion of perpetual waiting list to exist to increase a pseudo demand.
Like wise when Hyundai has capacity to produce 10K i10 and 7k odd Santros per month and sell the off the shelf why cant they produce 4K odd ANHVs.

There is more than what meets the eye.

Now fanboys please dont take me wrong I have nothing against MSIL or Hyundai. I am saying there is capacity they should make sure the planning is done properly.

That is not how it works. Suppose, a car model X has a waiting period of 4 months for the last couple of years and N number of this model is sold every month, then there is hardly any reason why they would want to increase the number of X beyond N, because monthly demand (new booking) has remained constant at N. Else, waiting period would have increased. They would rather wait for a bad month (less booking) and thus reduce the backlog. BTW, I'm not from economics. So I could be wrong. Just my opinion.

Very sad to see New Fiesta's sales figures.

After long years, Ford somehow entered into volume business with Figo. But looks like there is no action to retain the momentum of its sales. :eek:

Ford India need to spend their time & energy on its products and sales. Their concentration at present seems to build a new plant at Gujarat.

JK

Quote:

Originally Posted by ramesh (Post 2493218)

Logically it should be
1.A (Nano) , 2.A+ (Alto) , 3.B(Santro) 4.B+(Swift),5.C(D'zire) , 6.C+(Manza),7.D(Accord),8.D+(Merc C-class),9.E.( 50Lakh BMW) ,10.F (RR 1 crore)

agree:

Even though we are comparing sales units here , 100 units of an Alto cannot be compared to 100 units of a Dzire or a Vento as these are totally different segments and hence pricepoints.

We need cluster the vehicles into segments and then look at sales units .

Segments could be anything : Length,Engine capacity,Price range...

Toyota is offering free insurance and immediate delivery on Etios at Hyderabad. There is more to this than just waiting for Diesel. The car itself does not have the DNA of Toyota. Have driven both Etios and Liva back to back and the interiors are a big let down. The interior door padding is like a plastic sheet wrap that can be peeled like a banana. Shame.

Steering is poor and seats are pathetic. The central console is the worst design one can see in a sedan car. Must have costed around INR 500 to make.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AutoIndian (Post 2493221)

Apart from the fires, another significant fact is that the Nano was intended to create a new niche of buyers, upgrading from bikes and scooters.This niche is truly existent but when one upgrades, he or she has enough disposable income to go for an Alto or anything priced somewhat higher. This niche falls in the middle and upper middle class categories.They prefer not to go for a Nano as it looks odd, has virtually no luggage space,no tailgate, has the engine cramped and placed just below the rear seat and most of all does not have a proven track record (the fires are a major factor). Moreover it is tagged in the lowest segment.The other niche of lower middle and middle class people who want to upgrade but cannot afford a new Alto and were supposed to become Nano owners, also prefer second hand 800's, Altos, Santros and so on.
The bitter truth regarding ownership in a few words was revealed by none other than Mr Ratan Tata during his visit here in the two local Tata showrooms here.He said that Tata aimed to slot Nano with the single car owning families, who wanted to upgrade from two wheelers. But the ownership statistics have revealed that the Nano was in most cases a second car with two car families.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buffetfan (Post 2493043)

Toyota is unable to manufacture enough Innovas. A friend of mine was quoted a 6 month wait-list in Hyderabad. Situation is similar elsewhere for eg see the thread http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...-you-deal.html

Not sure whether it is due to the March 11 Tsunami that was predicted to have a slowdown on supply of components.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fusion2006 (Post 2493115)

Why isn't the Renault Fluence on the list? Does it mean none sold?
They have been doing a major ad blitz on TV - has it made any impact on buyers?

Just to clarify; if none are sold, then I'd include the car and add a 0 in the row. Renault figures have not been received yet.