[amitg79]

A bunch of numbers can tell so many interesting stories.

Ford is missing (has missed?) a big opportunity with the new Fiesta. Here was a car that could've taken on the Vento the Verna and the recent Rapid. It is modern, good looking, brilliant ride and handling but way too overpriced. Why they thought they'll be successful at those price levels is anybody's guess. Also, the marketing effort seems to be lacking.
Ford probably have to swallow some pride and revise the prices.

Fiat.... They have to go get their own showrooms. And fast. Tying up with Tata for service is fine (Being a Palio owner, have had a good expericence so far) but selling the two brands together was a stupid strategy. Heard about the Punto Evo being lauched in the Auto expo. If its just a cosmetic refresh, it may not go a long way in increasing sales. How about those nice Multi Air engines, Fiat?

Is anyone in charge of HM - Mitsubishi? I would love to listen in on one of their board meetings. If they have any.

[blackasta]

Nice charts - kudos to GTO and Jalsa777!
I was reading through the Rapid review and the more I read, more I felt that this is the missing piece of puzzle for Skoda. I would be very surprised if it doesn't bring in volumes. Also - offering the mid variant with Driver airbag / AT is a move in the right direction. Only fly in the ointment is Skoda's infamous A.S.S!
Looking at the sonata numbers - why on earth are Hyundai not bringing in the new Sonata? I see more new Sonatas than new Accords on road here in US!

[noopster]

Great to see the new presentation, GTO & Jalsa777!

Just a suggestion: in the segment-wise car sales graph, can you put the name of the vehicle at the end of each graph? The colours tend to get confusing otherwise- for a while I thought the Spark was selling 40,000 units/mo

What stood out prominently was the Swift selling 17,000 PLUS the 10,000 odd that the Dzire notched up. That is pretty incredible. The upgrade is obviously a big success!

Feel bad for Honda.

[RavenAvi]

Just when one thinks that GTO's high level Monthly Sales Analysis threads cannot be improved on, out comes this thread and the first 4 posts show that "YES! Even perfection can be taken to the next level."

Super duper work, GTO and team. Kudos!

Enough has been said about the segment leaders. I will try to focus on the poor performers:

- The Aveo twins are definitely on the way out, due to be replaced by the Sail twins sometime next year. What is Chevy thinking about the Captiva? Agreed it is a premium product, but 45 is too low a number. Maybe a facelift will bolster sales.

- Offers on the Linea/Punto have boosted sales from last month. But still, 1000+ sales of the entire Fiat range is simply too low. If their independent dealerships from next month (Fiat Cafes) don't click, Fiat is in some serious danger. The only problem I see is the A.S.S. (which is otherwise marring the sales of two of the most competent cars in our market today), and that issue should be solved next month. Come on Fiat, you can go only up from here on!

- The Endeavour at ~200 is still marginally decent, but Ford needs to re-think about it's premium SUV seriously now. Better options are killing it badly, and it needs some fresh re-jig to bounce back into the sales. Simply adding front bumpers and decals won't bring in the numbers. (Learn from the XUV500, Ford)

- Mitsubishi NEEDS the Mirage now, and badly! If they are even remotely serious about their Indian operations, they have to increase production capacity and add the little global hatchback into their Indian plans. Now that the Ambassador has lost favor with the police (and soon by the govt leaders as well, I dread), they cannot depend on the Pajero to keep the whiff of survival going under their dying noses. It's pretty much written on the wall for them - the Mitsubishi Mirage or bye-bye from India.

- Honda's sales have been really badly hit by the Thailand situation. One look at the City's numbers and it's all too evident. Dealers have been forced to take back their discount schemes on the City due to supply constraints and that has affected sales, and how! A huge, HUGE drop. Just when the Brio was warming up to the customers, it sees a decline as well. December is also destined to go that way (unless the rumors of the launch of the facelifted City in mid-December turn out to be true), and we can expect Honda to bounce back in the sales charts only in January 2012. I suspect the Brio and the City to bring in the volumes for Honda in the next year. The Jazz is now superbly positioned in the VFM bracket, but it is still not getting the monthly figures everyone predicted it will bring. Expect the Brio to overtake the Jazz every month after Honda recovers. Too bad, because it is a superbly engineered product. The other three Hondas - Accord, Civic & CR-V - are destined to get facelifts next year so their position should improve. Now that Honda has added a smaller capacity diesel to it's kitty (the 1.6 i-DTEC), this should power the Civic/City to new heights in sales. I expect them to remove a cylinder of the same and plonk it in the Brio as well (not next year but by 2013), so expect big things from Honda in the future. Better late than never, Honda.

- The Sonata is getting THUMPED! Hyundai needs to get in the "Fluidic" Sonata/i45 asap and get the charts rolling again. It's been a dream run for the new Verna; and the Sonata should do well, considering the killer looks it has and the superb CRDI inside. The Santa Fe needs a price correction as well. If they can do that, it should rake in some more numbers. In the age of the XUV500 (see how the XUV keeps popping up as a real milestone for comparison again and again), carmakers need to seriously rethink their jigs for their SUV offerings.

- Grand Vitara, bow out when you still can. Even Maruti's reputation and A.S.S. guarantee can't bring in even a "1" beside your name, and that should be your cue to exit. Even the Kizashi went past 150 last month, but you couldn't even garner 1 customer in the past 2 months. The Gypsy is due for a facelift/replacement next year (to be unveiled together with the Ertiga RIII), so that should boost it's sales.

- The 370Z hasn't managed to find a single customer in the past 5 months! Enough indication to Nissan to concentrate as much as they can on the Sunny/Micra combo and take this super-premium coupe out of the India equation.

- The Koleos has been a dud ever since it was introduced. The pricing is simply too steep. Add to it the fact that a superb product like the XUV500 (here we go again) was launched on it's heels with a fantastic price and the rugged guarantee of being a Mahindra. What next, Renault? Cut it's price or offer discounts? Either way, I don't see the Koleos improving it's monthly performances in the near future.

- Same goes for the Yeti. It's a great, all-round package but the pricing is a bit steep. Skoda went ahead and launched a cheaper variant, but still at 13L it is a costlier option to the XUV500 (whoops!). Not to mention that the XUV has it beaten in terms of space, length, width, etc. Will the new cheaper Yeti bring in the numbers? Let's wait and see, but don't hold your breath.

- Aria at a mere 140! Tata should sit down and analyze about it's MUV. It's the best Tata product till date (in terms of engineering), but it has been well and truly beaten. They need to bring in some features, reduce prices, or do something so that it stands beside the XUV (don't blame me!) as a solid option to the Indian customer.

- Okay, the Camry is officially a dud in India. Will the facelift (spotted recently on Indian roads) do something for it's dismal sales? The Prius has no takers as well, and that is a pity because it is a good seller everywhere else. Too bad that eco-friendly technology is still in it's infancy in our country, coupled with that the steep pricing of the Prius. Maybe a smaller Prius with a more competitive price is the order of the day. Thing is, is Toyota paying attention here, or are they sitting back contented with the showing of their Etios twins?

- It was destined to happen. The Rapid's launch has eaten into the Vento's numbers. Although the numbers aren't too big to be taken seriously (a dip of around ~400 for the Vento), I expect the difference to increase in the days to come. ~1000 for the Rapid in the first month itself (half a month almost), and when it is ALMOST the same as the Vento bumper-to-bumper except for frontal looks and engine refinement, it has suddenly become a superb alternative to the much costlier VW. The Rapid's diesels should overtake Vento's diesel sales in the days to come. VW's pathetic A.S.S. (although they are reported to be improving, I don't see how) and the lack of features should be telling on the Vento's sales. Although the parent company should not be complaining much - after all, they are seeing it as Vento + Rapid sales. Whichever wins, they will be laughing their way into the banks.


btw, this chart is not showing the Vento's numbers -



Vento's numbers need to be added in.

[sahakar]

Wow, its the year end and the entire industry sans a couple of stupid players seem to be recovering. Really surprising.

Is it more of the case of factories sending out 2011 models out to the dealerships for getting rid of them?

Cheers

[amateurpro]

Thanks GTO for the excellent report. The tables are awesome and lot more informative this time.

On Ford Fiesta, you have hit the nail on the head. New Ford Fiesta is a disappointment in terms of looks compared to the smarter looking Fiesta classic. I know looks are subjective but would prefer the old Fiesta Classic look anyday. This is where Hyundai Verna seems to have scored a perfect 10 with both their new additions - Verna and Eon. They are stunners, though operating in very different segments. There are so many other considerations like performance, fuel efficiency, reliability, refinement etc.. But for an amateur like me, look is very important. But knowing Ford, they would bounce back stronger, faster. Great overall comeback by Maruti Suzuki.

One suggestion. The reading of the line graphs was a bit difficult with too many lines criss crossing each other. It could read better if only the top 3 player's trend are plotted in the graphs for each segment. Anyways, the tables will have the full list of players.

[ssh1979]

Excellent report GTO and Jalsa777; thank you!

BTW, why is Force Motors not in the list?

[Aragorn]

The first mover advantage of Maruti in the Indian market continues to this day! Hyundai is probably the only OEM capable of / are serious about challenging the status. It takes brilliant planning to execute a 4000+ story for the Verna and a strong 7000+ story for the Eon, in the same year. The rest of them are still in various stages of catching up.

Great to see Maruti respond after the strike and come back to a stellar performance. The Swift was a master stroke by them 6 years back and continues to bring in money for them. What Maruti now need to do is make sure their model development is centred around India, since it is their biggest revenue earner. Most of Maruti's models are hand down from the global design efforts with minor modifications for India.

And what are Ford doing with the new Fiesta? I hope this is not a long drawn story like the Fusion, Ikon and erstwhile Fiesta which were overpriced to start with and then gradually lowered over years. Why Ford, why?

Skoda's Rapid will be the volume seller for them, no doubt. In a country where a Skoda is more prestigious brand than a VW and the intelligent mix of variants, it should outsell the Vento. Unless VW decides to artificially constrain it, being the big brother.

[Mafia]

the maruti figures are because of the massive backlog that has occured. It would be the same for a couple of months i guess. Surprised not to see eon cross the 10k mark.
All the chikns in GM ar suddenly very apparant. Hopefully new launches will help the cause.
Xuv 500 under 2k mark is surprisinb despite the bookings.

[GTO]

Guys, just wanted to say THANKS for the suggestions, and that we're taking all of them into account. This is the first-time that we've represented data this way and it's far from perfect. As always, the format will keep evolving till its perfect.

Please keep the tips coming.

[_raVan_]

What a wonderful report GTO! Kudos to you and Jalsa for having prepared it. I have never spent so much time analyzing the monthly report.

Suggestions:
a) The graph for C segment vehicles looks a LOT cluttered and it was difficult to pinpoint a specific line. Can an interactive flash doc be helpful in here?
b) Colors are very difficult to distinguish. But dont know what can be the solution for this as there are a plethora of cars!
c) Charts and sales numbers for luxury brands?

[ACM]

Originally Posted by Rock 'n' rollz

Fortune Thane doesn't have separate SAs for Fiat for sure, nor do they have a dedicated Sales area for Fiat.

Would you be kind enough to name a few dealerships in Mumbai that have a dedicated Fiat setup at TASS please? That would really help.

I have had enough at Fortune Cars, Thane recently. The SA, I had very good relationship with, has left and now I am an "invisible man" for initial half an hour when I visit them.

Wasan (Chembur for sure).

I too stay at Thane - Ghodbunder Rd. - but get my car serviced at Wasan Chembur.

To clarify when I mean dedicated setup. Am implying that when for example we enter the Wasant Chembur Service centre area. They have one building for toyota (sales + Service at same location)- Seperate Entrance with seperate gate (though quite distant and isolated for a sales outlet.). Then right at the start they have a main gate with two buildings - one for Ford (on the left) and one for TATA + Fiat (on the right). Now within the TATA + Fiat building there reception area has TATA & Fiat in equal branding and there are seperate SA's who sit behind the reception for Fiat & for TATA. (Infact the SA for Aria and Safari is different from that for the remaning TATA Cars and there is a seperate desk or two for FIAT). The receptionist is common. Nope no seperate building for FIAT (the volumes don't justify that) but definately seperate teams. Infact two of my colleages who get their Linea's serviced at Wasan Kandiwali and Chembur also report that they always interact with the same seperate SA's not the ones for TATA.

I yesterday itself met a sales guy from TATA (will not specify the region / territory to not let out his name) but he in the course of a general discussion on trends in the industry clearly told me that they have a seperate sales person within tata itself for each territory for TATA Nano, for TATA MUV's / SUV's, for TATA CV's sold through Passenger car dealerships, for TATA (Vista & Manza) & for Fiat (Linea & Punto). Infact he mentioned that a guy who looks at say the Nano cannot change a bit of branding in the Manza or Linea locations at the Dealership. On top of this they have a seperate person who looks at Showroom Branding and structure which sales guys cannot look into. Thus there are distinct persons not just for FIAT but also for car subsegments right from TATA and moving into the Dealership as well.

Anyways comming back to the Nov Sales at a lot of TATA's performance and even that of Fiat would have been influenced by the shortage and delays due to strike at Maruti, we need to see if that continues. FIAT does need to add another small car smaller than the Punto, refesh the Punto and Linea looks, improving the tuning for the Punto and Linea and finally relook at the pricing of their vehicle, no doubt the Linea and Punto are much more evolved vehicles compared to the Manza and Vista though both have the same engines, but if the Linea and Puntoa are not acceptable at their price points they do need to get them down to Manza/ Vista levels till they have sustainable presence and market share in the Industry. They also need to up their Branding spend.

[nawalsingal]

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

Sometimes I feel the half human and the half ape in the ads are the marketing heads at VW .

Can't stop laughing , Though on a serious note, I agree that a middle variant for Vento & ABS/ Airbags as option in Polo Vento will do them a lot of good & may be earn a few extra bucks. Why don't these apes(marketing heads at VW) listen to customers' feedback?

[wanderlustindia]

New Ford Fiesta's numbers are disappointing and rightly so! Ford need to wake up and revise the pricing of it ASAP lest such a wonderful car is lost in oblivion. As someone rightly said a 75k discount isn't going to ring in the numbers for FORD. They will soon learn it the hard way. My guess is a price revision is round the corner after the 75k discount doesn't cut the ice with the prospective buyers. Incidentally, I'm in the market for the new Fiesta Diesel should there be a price correction.

Eon isn't killing the Alto just yet! But still healthy numbers.

I am amazed how Bolero manages to better the numbers each month. Alongside Scorpio, the Bolero keeps the cash registers ringing at Mahindra.

Heartening to see the Nano doing fairly alright. Still far from the numbers TATA would like it to do. Perhaps the Nano 2012 can do the trick!

Oh! Forgot to mention. Fantastic report, guys. Kudos. Look forward to more of this in the future.

[nilanjanray]

Kizashi performance is surprising. I am also surprised by the Innova not getting hit due to XUV5OO launch. Maybe the numbers are due to existing demand (bookings) fulfillment.