[aditya@pune]

Originally Posted by nawalsingal

to some extent even optra. :

Optra is a good car in that segment if you can excuse her for the looks and not having updated gadgets inside her. Just one year completes with me please don't wish to close so quickly - Favour for many optra owners/lovers nawalsingal.

[skdking]

Originally Posted by GTO

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Indian Car Scene!

Too many charts, GTO. Information overload.

Cut down some.

Great thread even then.

[throttleking]

Eon is too far from Alto, this keeps me surprised every time I see the monthly analysis.

and I agree, too many charts, and some of the trending charts are looking too cluttered.

[nawalsingal]

Originally Posted by aditya@pune

Optra is a good car in that segment if you can excuse her for the looks and not having updated gadgets inside her. Just one year completes with me please don't wish to close so quickly - Favour for many optra owners/lovers nawalsingal.

Sorry if i hurt your sentiments or for that matter other Optra owners. Even we have a Captiva & it pains to see even that going downhill. But this baffles me no end as to why manufacturers treat some of their products in such a step motherly manner. As you have yourself pointed out, Optra is a good car, but with "Dated Looks & gadgetry". Don't know how companies expect to retain market share/ sales volume by these tactics. Why don't they refresh these models & offer updated choices to customers. Look at Maruti. They keep on coming up with something new. They had the guts to refresh even the best selling Swift(Good or Bad is individual perception).

[aravind.anand]

Originally Posted by nawalsingal

...As you have yourself pointed out, Optra is a good car, but with "Dated Looks & gadgetry". Don't know how companies expect to retain market share/ sales volume by these tactics. Why don't they refresh these models & offer updated choices to customers. Look at Maruti...

Correct me if I am wrong, but I think Chevrolet launched an all new Optra sometime back, but called it the 'Cruze'. Many manufacturers do this - Octavia-Laura, Accent-Verna, Fiesta Classic- Fiesta, Santro- i10, are all successive models that are/were being sold simultaneously in our country, but replaced in other parts of the World. So these models are actually living an extended grace-time period, and will have to market themselves and soldier on their own, without expecting the Company's support. I don't think the Manufacturers would bother about them, when the next-gen is already here, in a different name of course! Whatever numbers these previous-Gen cars bring in, would just be an added bonus right?

[sa_kiran]

A very close fight in C2 between City, Vento, Verna and Rapid catching up. Interesting to see what happens in the coming months.

Grand Vitara has recorded 100% growth over the last 2 months!

I wonder how HM-Mitsubishi are managing o stay alive at those volumes!

[wilful]

I am one for an array of information allowing me the choice of going through with care whatever I wish to & a cursory glance at other things. So all the charts and graphs are fine by me.
I wish there was some way one could get the diesel vs petrol & manual vs automatic too. Now that would make for some interesting reading.

[rajeev k]

All manufacturers did well on the last month of the last fiscal. Can't believe that the Swift and Dezire together outsold all the the small A segment cars.

Congrats GTO for your new caaaaar and looking forward for the ownership report to know what made you zoom in on Sunny.

Had Premier's plan worked out in the late 80s, we would have seen the Sunny on Indian roads loooong back.

[shyamk]

Given the fact that I own a Bolero, it is quite possible that I should not be asking this question. ;-)

Do the sales figures of Bolero include the pick-up variants that are being used for transportation of goods ?

I see huge sales figures every month, and very few Bolero's on the road, at-least in Chennai.

Shyam

[indianvirus]

Hi guys,

As always, one of the best thread on the forum. Voted the usual 5 stars. It's been one hell of a month for auto industry in terms of sales. All the companies (well almost all) recorded growth and the fact, that it was highest selling month ever, is just amazing. Good to see Nano and Sunny doing good numbers.

As always GTO does great job with write-ups and jalsa does equally great job with graphics.

GTO and Jalsa, dudes, my salute to you both. I am a big fan.

Cheers..

[misquitas]

Originally Posted by needforspeed88

i10 has not shown the growth, it ought have in the last month of the season.

Eon has had little impact on Maruti products but more on its own sibling the i10. I feel Eon would have crossed 20 thousand units if it had a 4 cylinder motor.

With Hyundai's strategy, they are not utilizing the full potential of Eon. I seriously believe i10 will continue to hover around the 10k mark and that it will struggle to increase its tally. The reason being price wise it is competing with the bigger hatches like Swift, Ritz, Figo etc on one end and its chief nemesis the Wagon R on the other. I just feel Eon has to be given a heart transplant with the irde2. Santro i am afraid has run its course and the writing is on the wall. Yes it is selling around 5k at this moment in time but how long ? They cannot hold back the Eon to lengthen Santro's lifespan. This the product strategy i would like Hyundai to increase their total sales tally. In the ascending order.

Phase out Santro when its sales drop below 3k mark.

Agree to many of your points, but differ on some of them. If the "aged" Santro can still 5000-odd cars, especially at a time when there are so many newer hatches to chose from, I see no reason why Hyundai should discontinue the product.

What Hyundai can do is to revive the product. Santro still commands a strong brand name as a reliable, no-nonsense allround hatch. In my opinion, Hyundai should do the following:

1. Position the Eon alongside the Santro: Market the Eon as a compact low-bodied car and the new Santro as a compact tall-bodied car. Each with their own set of advantages.

2. Offer 3-cylinder and 4-cylinder engines on both Santro and Eon: A 3-cylinder Eon engine on the Santro could decrease its price tag and increase its fuel efficiency for the price conscious buyer, while a 4-cylinder IRDE2 engine on the Eon will give it better power for the performance conscious buyer.

3. Offer the same set of frills, fitments on both cars: Having a common set of fitments for both cars would help keep costs under control, while it could give a new look to the Santro.

Positioning both cars together could work wonders for both cars. The facelift Santro would be perceived as a refreshed model among those who still swear by the Santro (my mum is one of them).

As far as the i10 is concerned, I feel that Hyundai should drop the IRDE2 engine altogether and have only 2 variants for the i10 -- the Kappa2 petrol and a diesel engine. I suspect that there is little demand for the IRDE2 i10 and a new diesel engine would work wonders for the i10.

[n.ananth]

Nissan has a sure winner in its hands with the Caaar. Superb number considering the sparse dealer network when compared to the competition. Superb positioning for the product. The Sunny is exactly what the entry level sedan buyer in India wants "A spacious car that is refined and frugal" Classic example where the Japanese win over the Europeans or Americans in terms of product customisation based on local market requirements.

[headbanger]

Originally Posted by misquitas

What Hyundai can do is to revive the product. Santro still commands a strong brand name as a reliable, no-nonsense allround hatch.

+1 to this. 5k for Santro is a very respectable number. It enjoys a good reputation amongst the target audience.

Originally Posted by misquitas

Positioning both cars together could work wonders for both cars. The facelift Santro would be perceived as a refreshed model among those who still swear by the Santro (my mum is one of them).

As far as the i10 is concerned, I feel that Hyundai should drop the IRDE2 engine altogether and have only 2 variants for the i10 -- the Kappa2 petrol and a diesel engine. I suspect that there is little demand for the IRDE2 i10 and a new diesel engine would work wonders for the i10.

Positioning multiple cars within overlapping range has done wonders for Maruti.
The issue with i10, as pointed by multiple members, is lack of oil-burner in India. Give it a diesel and i10 should be back on podium. Its a fantastic product in its segment and lack of diesel option is hurting it the most.

[vvvinod]

GTO Thank you for the amazing analysis and narration as usual.

I am not able to understand the business strategy of Hyundai and Chevy, both this company's have Diesel Engine Technology BUT why they are not bringing it to i10, Aveo and Aveo-UVA respectively.

MoM i10 losing its 2nd position to 8 or 9 , ONLY Diesel Engine can take it back to at least 4th position.

Chevy for some strange reason doesn't want to plonk a Diesel mill on Aveo or Aveo-UVA. They have the multi jet tech from FIAT and already tasted the success with BEAT Diesel. I think May be a 1.3 mill on Aveo with 50k price hike can easily fetch this car to 4 digit monthly sales.

Good to see Honda back on Game. Jazz is still an amazing product don't know why numbers are less.

[Ford5]

Linea outselling the new ford fiesta? Never in my dreams i thought this could happen. or is it just the temporary 2012 model effect for linea?