[vnabhi]

Nice report this time---especially the pictorial graphs!

But I wonder how C1 segment is differentiated from C2---is it the space or the price bracket?

If it is space, how come Sunny is in C1 while SX4 is in C2? And if it is price, why is the Honda City in C2, even after its recent price cuts?

[misquitas]

Hi GTO,

Just a small query. In your Nov '11 sales figures, you mentioned Santro as a "A" segment car. But in the Dec '11 sales figures, the santro has been classified as "B1" segment. Which of the two is correct?

[naut]

Toyota is now the 5th largest automaker in the country by market share!. They are within striking distance of M&M. In-fact the difference is approximately equal to the number of XUV 500's sold in the month.

Another point to note is that Chevrolet and Ford are closely tied to the 6th spot. Based on last years performance, I would expect Ford to report higher numbers in Jan and capture the 6th place. Ford started 2011 with a bang, some 8000 odd Figo's shipped while their Dec 2010 shipment had a similar dip.

[MAS]

Thank you very much for the wonderful report GTO and Jalsa. A new year gift for Team-Bhpians.

Ford sales seem to have come down inspite of the December Midnight sale. I'm just happy that the New Fiesta's sales is slowly growing. I'm getting my Fiesta tomorrow.

[FlyingSpur]

How on earth did the Superb manage 400+ sales? Quite surprising. While the i20 still manages 5000+, the Eon and i10 numbers aren't very impressive. No wonder Hyundai has been offering heavy benefits on the i10 for a long long time now. The once no.2 spot holder has now slipped back, conceding the lead to the Swift and WagonR. Swift's numbers are staggering. It will be interesting to see how long the Verna continues to sustain its 4000+ run. It has been quite a consistent performer.

Honda selling a total of 1,000 cars a month? Wow, some stories are really unbelievable. Fuel prices shoot up, a market leader falls in every segment.

[antz.bin]

Originally Posted by StarrySky

I think Honda's troubles have been self-inflicted, due to their pricing and lack of diesel options. City lost to Vento and Verna in the C-segment and even after the price cuts, they weren't really been able to beat the Verna. Jazz has been a dud from Day 1. Civic/Accord/CRV have been also-rans in their segment for too long.

When they finally got off their high horse and corrected their pricing, their recovery has been derailed/delayed by factors beyond their control.

VW meanwhile have a well-priced all-rounder in Vento. The Polo is also a good car although I feel it's a little over-priced. However, VW have been able to successfully sell that "German Engineering" tagline to the public. To me, it's no surprise that VW has the lead. No doubt, Honda will recover from this slump but, to beat VW Honda needs both Brio and Jazz to do well. They cannot expect City to single-handedly help them beat VW.

A diesel City will help, but we all thought a diesel Corolla will obliterate the competition - did it really happen? Diesel has not helped the SX4 much either.

The Diesel Corolla with a 88PS engine is a D1 segment car is less powerful than the C2 Segment cars like Linea, Manza, Vento, Rapid, SX4. And probably has similar interior space to the C1 segment Sunny, Manza(C2?). How does it justify its price again?

Anyways, another trend I can spot is, the C2/D1 segmenters with diesel engines which are more than 14% less powerful than their own corresponding petrol engine are (rightfully) not doing too well.

*eg. Vento(100%), Rapid(100%), Verna(104%), Laura(87.5%) doing well enough (last one considering the smaller distribution network)

SX4(85.7%), Altis(66%), Fluence(77.3%), New Fiesta(82.5%), Linea(81.5%) not doing well.

* - Figures in the () indicate power of the diesel engine compared to the corresponding petrol.

It is time the manufacturers understood that maybe the customer who is paying much more for the diesel version might not be too much willing to compromise on horsepower.

The trend actually continues onto the D2 segment too. But with so many duds here (Kizashi, Sonata, Camry, Teana, even the Accord now) this basically is a single horse race with the only car satisfying the above condition (Skoda Superb) selling Twice the rest of the D2 segmenters (sedans) Combined!!

The trend fails somewhat in the C1 segment where the primary reason the buyer gets a diesel is not Horsepower. But if we do apply it there then the cars doing the best no.s happen to fall in the <14% rule. Dezire(88%), Indigo(107%), Manza(100%), Verito(87%). But Etios(76%) and Fiesta Classic(67%) are Exceptions to this trend.

The point to be noted here is that the pre TJet Linea used to do much better no.s than it does now since it was inside the 14% rule prior to TJet launch.
Also, Logan with the 1.6 Petrol option never managed 4 digit sales(which took it outside the 14% rule). But since the 1.6 has been discontinued in the Verito, the sales are consistently in 4 digits.

P.S.: The 14% rule is somewhere in the gray area. But the trend is for everyone to see. Right there, is a lesson to be learnt for all the upcoming diesel engine options.

P.P.S.: Comments/ constructive criticism welcome. Ridiculing a valid trend, not welcome.

[Technocrat]

Originally Posted by GTO

December is usually known as the “stock clearance” month. No dealer (or manufacturer) wants to hold on to 2011-build models entering into the New Year, and they do everything they can to liquidate inventory. Then, there are 3rd quarter targets to be met by the marketing & sales functions. Many customers wait for January-built cars as that will fetch them better resale down the road. These are the main reasons why the market usually sees heavy discounting at the end of the year. Fact is, even some of the newly launched cars (e.g. Eon) have discount offers. Another stimulus was the announcement of an impending price hike in Jan 2012 by nearly all manufacturers.

Great Report as always GTO

I am not sure if this is just a rumor spread by dealerships or if the Manufacturers actually increase the prices every Jan.

Originally Posted by GTO

The Indica & Vista sisters are on a roll, averaging 10,000+ units for the last 4 months. The Indigo + Manza also have a respectable innings with nearly 7,000 sedan despatches. December was the best month for the Sumo in 2011 and way above its monthly average of 1,900 units. Note that the Sumo tops the monthly movers chart (among those selling over 500 units a month). Nano is still performing below expectation if you consider the price bracket it has a presence in. Even a 1.6 lakh discount does nothing for the Aria’s fortunes. The pressure must be on at Tata’s headquarters to price the new Safari / Merlin properly.

I have been reading this & something strike me today. Is Tata fooling people by clubbing Indica & Vista And Indigo & Manza? I mean Indica & & Vista are completely different cars as such, they are as equal or different than each other as say The Wagon R & Estillo or the Santro & i10.

If they give out individual sales figure the individual models have very poor sale in its segment e.g. In July The SX4 & Dzire combine had sold 5324 pieces which is much more than 4877 of Indigo+Manza. But if you only see Dezire figures they were 3021.

Just an observation.

[akshatverma1979]

Originally Posted by misquitas

Hi GTO,

Just a small query. In your Nov '11 sales figures, you mentioned Santro as a "A" segment car. But in the Dec '11 sales figures, the santro has been classified as "B1" segment. Which of the two is correct?

I agree. Classification should remain consistent GTO. In fact, i think B1 segment is correct for santro. My query is regarding the Beat. I thought it was in the same segment as the i10. How come i10 is in the same segment as the Polos and Swifts and I-20s, whereas the Beat has to share segment with Santros and Estilos ? Being a Beat owner myself, i was offended , and will remain so till i get a valid explanation.
Jokes apart, what is the criterion of classifying these cars into various segments? I know this is Off topic, but i'm curious as to how you classify the car segments. I searched on google, and couldnt really get a good link with detailed information.

As for this month's sales reports, The Liva and Etios sales really were a big surprise for me. Toyota has a way of really understanding the consumers' needs.
Good to see XUV5OO doing well too. I dont understand the fall in Figo sales. Is it because of Eon picking up on sales a little ? But Eon has dented sales of its own sibling 1-10 the most.

Technocrat is Spot-on in his above post. Why is TATA Motors clubbing 2 different generation models ? I guess then Maruti should club sales of 800 and Alto to break even more records. Ford should club sales of Old and New Fiestas to save face (everyone is rightly bashing them for the new Fiesta). In fact, even GM can try and fool people by writing M-platform sales (spark M200/beat M300) and try to come in the much coveted, Elite Top 10 chart.

[misquitas]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

I have been reading this & something strike me today. Is Tata fooling people by clubbing Indica & Vista And Indigo & Manza? I mean Indica & & Vista are completely different cars as such, they are as equal or different than each other as say The Wagon R & Estillo or the Santro & i10.

If they give out individual sales figure the individual models have very poor sale in its segment e.g. In July The SX4 & Dzire combine had sold 5324 pieces which is much more than 4877 of Indigo+Manza. But if you only see Dezire figures they were 3021.

Just an observation.

Fully agree with your views. Tata wants to cling on to the "Indica" tag for both the Indica and the Vista, as far as sales figures are concerned, but wants to get rid of the "Indica" tag on the Vista when it wants to promote the Vista.

If one goes by Tata's logic of clubbing unrelated cars for the purpose of rosy sales figures, Maruti could well merge Swift and Dzire, which would generate a whopping 25K sales, enough to displace even the mighty Alto. And for that matter, why shouldnt the Etios be merged with the Liva, the old Fiesta with the new fiesta, the Aveo with the U-Va, or even the Alto with the A-Star?

[ghodlur]

GTO & Jalsa,

Thanks again for the most awaited thread of the month. The figures speak for themselves.

With Fiat parting ways with Tata I hope the turnaround is round the corner.

[heman_369]

Thanks GTO and Jalsa.
I was expecting low numbers from last month of the year but the results are quite surprising.
Thrilled to see excellent numbers for Etios and Liva being an Etios owner myself. Even if you consider the 'poor interiors' and 'cost cutting' this very much proves that the twins are fundamentally very sound cars with excellent drivability and superb engine.

I am eagerly looking forward and hope that Ford prices the Ecosport really well. In next 5 years it would be my most logical upgrade.

[StarrySky]

Originally Posted by antz.bin

The Diesel Corolla with a 88PS engine is a D1 segment car is less powerful than the C2 Segment cars like Linea, Manza, Vento, Rapid, SX4. And probably has similar interior space to the C1 segment Sunny, Manza(C2?). How does it justify its price again?

The point I wanted to make is that just adding diesel option to an already successful petrol car does not automatically translate to higher market share. People say a diesel City will turn around Honda's fortunes based on the success of the petrol City - but it may not happen.

[antz.bin]

Originally Posted by StarrySky

The point I wanted to make is that just adding diesel option to an already successful petrol car does not automatically translate to higher market share. People say a diesel City will turn around Honda's fortunes based on the success of the petrol City - but it may not happen.

The point I was trying to make however was, the scenario you mentioned is more likely to happen if the aforementioned diesel engine is >14% less powerful than the successful petrol.

So, For a successful Diesel City, its bare minimum power output should be > 101.5 PS. For the Diesel Civic, it should be > 113.5 PS. Anything less than that would be disastrous. Even if they equal the above no.s, the response will only be lukewarm considering the 140PS Lauras, the 128PS Vernas and the 105PS Ventos and Rapids they are competing with.

[Swanand Inamdar]

Honda sure should be glad that 2011 is behind them now. What a nightmarish year it has been for them. Hope the new year brings in some good news to this company.

Eon was supposed to be the Alto beater. Huh? Alto still rules the market as clearly indicated with the number of cars sold. Eon is nowhere even close!

Glad to see Superb selling 400+ cars in one month. November's dispatch issues, sure would have a role to play. Rapid should see some good numbers in this year, going by the amount of bookings the dealers have received.

Swift selling close to 17k is just awesome! Just heard today morning - the new Swift diesel now commands a waiting period of 9 months in some dealerships. 9 Months!! It takes a human to deliver a baby in that time frame. Ridiculous!!

[PhiGolden]

Why is the THAR not mentioned in thease reports? That is one number I would really like to know.