A short month, February had only 20 working days. Yet, Month No.2 has been a celebration of sorts for the top manufacturers. In fact, most brands have recorded month-on-month gains, while others yet have had their best in nearly a year. Remember, there is a 50:50 chance that the upcoming budget will impose hefty taxes on diesel cars and thus, a large number of buyers preponed their purchase decisions.
Maruti’s stars are shining bright! The Japanese company has just had its best performance in a year, after all the labour issues it suffered in 2011. Then, the top 4 best-selling cars are all Marutis, with the Swift & Dzire recording their peak performances. The Dzire tops out at 15,000 units which I believe is the highest ever for a sedan in India. The popular Swift, not one to be left behind, crosses the 20,000 mark….yet another record. The Alto has an identical run as this time in 2011 with a whopping 32,000 units. The petrol UVs – Omni & Eeco – sure bring in a lot of cash for Maruti too. That said, India’s largest car maker does have its share of permanent laggards. Namely, the A-Star, Estilo, Grand Vitara and Kizashi which don’t appear to benefit from the trust in the brand or the wide distribution network at all.
Hyundai enjoyed its best month ever, and the new baby – the Eon – ranks no.5 on the Indian charts with its best ever performance of 10,000 invoices, as does the i10 with a near identical number. For a 15 year old hatchback, and Hyundai’s first car in India, the Santro finds a commendable ~6,000 homes. The Verna continues its brilliant run in the C2 segment at the 4.5K mark. On the flip side, the i20’s fall to the sub-5K mark is due to the facelift's impending launch (thanks to
swiftnfurious for pointing it out). Watch out for the snazzy new Sonata which starts shipments in March. Hyundai is waiting for the budget before announcing prices.
Tata’s strategy with the Indica & Indigo platforms is commendable; the hatchback & sedan siblings garner nearly 20,000 shipments combined. Nice to see the cute li’l Nano climb up to the 9K level, it’s best performance since April 2011. The 2012 Nano is much improved, and the market seems to agree. The Sumo Gold – a large UV at only 5.xx lakhs – contributes to that strong 3,000+ tally. On the flip side, flagship product Aria is going nowhere until Tata brings in serious price corrections across the range. The last two years have shown us a fair share of overpriced products and they have all bombed. More power to the customer, I say!
Great month overall for Mahindra. Bet you never expected the XUV500 to be a sedan basher. Well, it outsells all of the D1 sedans combined! We had predicted in our review that there will be some cross-shopping between the 14 lakh sedans and the XUV, and the effect is to be seen in the D1 segment trends (image below). The Bolero may be old, yet it appears to be giving the market just what it wants, and continues to dominate amongst UVs. It’ll be interesting to see if the facelift Xylo is able to sustain the newfound momentum.
Toyota is enjoying a solid run, with the Innova, Corolla, Etios & Fortuner putting in commendable market performances. Spreading the Fortuner's offering across 3 engine & transmission variants appears to have worked, and the 20 lakh SUV records a top month. The Innova may be the 2nd best selling MUV (after the Bolero), but thanks to the pricing, the Innova’s net $$$ turnover is higher than that of the Mahindra. The Liva also has a fairly good month, though it’s not exceptional. Remember, the Liva has competition that is fiercer than what her sedan sibling has to contend with. The next-gen Camry launch is just around the corner. It will be interesting to see how the CKD pricing affects its “fortunes”. Sadly, there is no news of a diesel Camry being launched.
Status quo for the Beat which has settled down at the respectable 4.5k mark; what a fuel-efficient diesel can do to your registers. The Cruze, like a lot of other D1 segment sedans, is facing a lot of heat. Whenever it has faced such a situation before, GM always resorts to price-cuts. The Spark is slowly drifting away into no-mans land. Unless GM brings in corrective measures, this
once-a-solid-3,000-monthly car will sink away into oblivion. I still think the Spark is one heck of a package for the money and deserves to do better. For the first half of year 2011, the baby Chevy's sales average was 3,200 units!! Chevrolet appears to be focusing its efforts on the Beat, Cruze & Tavera only. The rest of its product range is full of duds.
After a dreadful January that marked Honda’s lowest point ever, February brought some respite in terms of production & part supplies. The Brio – a well priced Honda hatchback – is gaining traction and closes Feb at 2,000 shipments. The City is back with a bang, bringing home a stunning 6,000+ sales. The Jazz has a lot of potential with its repositioning, albeit we have yet to see any effect of the price cuts. The CRV has a pretty good run with a 100 imports. The Civic & Accord, however, continue to under-perform. The all-new generation Civic doesn’t appear to be much different and I doubt it will make any impact sans a diesel engine. Perhaps, that’s why Honda is dragging its feet in bringing the car to Indian shores.
The Figo has now established itself as a consistent performer, closing February with a tally of 6,500 units. The ol' Fiesta is also bringing in ~1,400 sales quite regularly. However, there is not much else to cheer about at Ford. Probable inventory backlog at the dealer level means the 2011 Fiesta saw a mere 77 factory dispatches. How an over-priced product can ruin your market penetration strategy.
The VW Polo has an exceptional month, nearly nudging the 4K mark, but the same cannot be said about the Vento (which ironically is far more competent in its segment). Ever since the Rapid was launched, VW knew things just got tougher for the Vento. 400 shipments is a nice February for the Jetta, and the car is still working through the 2.5 month booking backlog. Importantly, the Jetta outsold the Laura.
It appears that the typical Indian family doesn’t want anything more than diesel economy, space & reliability. Consider the Sunny : With Nissan’s smaller dealer network & limited brand recognition, the Sunny does 3,000 odd cars for the second month in a row! BTW, 1 car of the 3,130 tally is mine
. Yep, we just booked the Sunny Diesel as I think it’s the perfect chauffeur-driven family car. The Micra has a superb month as well, crossing over the 2K mark for the first time in nearly a year. But the reason for the Sunny outselling the cheaper Micra is this : COMPETITION. Where the Micra has to contend with a whole host of hatchbacks, the Sunny has relatively limited competition and a lot more USP to offer.
I had predicted that the Rapid will go on to become Skoda’s best selling product, overtaking the cheaper Fabia too. Well, the Rapid has indeed become Skoda’s No.1 and also overtakes its sibling, the Vento for the first time. After all, it’s the same car for 8 - 10% less money! The Laura has a regular month with 370 shipments; respectable but not a patch on its performance in the first half of 2011 when it was a solid 600 unit / month runner. As competent as the Yeti may be, it’s shoddy market performance just proves that SUVs in India need to look butch. Enough said. Despite the repositioning at a lower price point, the Fabia is unable to make any sort of headway into the brutally competitive B-segment.
All the hype around the improved “2012” models, heavy discounting & Italian coffee haven’t done anything for the Linea & Punto. It’s yet another forgettable month for the boys in Ranjangaon.
Renaults India strategy still appears to be much too confused, and only time will tell if & when the brand is able to penetrate deeper into the market.
HM is another back-bencher which, surprisingly, manages to sell more vintage cars (i.e. Ambassador) than modern. In fact, the Ambassador alone sold almost double of all the contemporary Mitsubishis
combined. You really have to sit back and wonder what is going to happen to Fiat & HM.