[Figopian]

As many suggested, there must be some issue with Alto line, the sales have gone down drastically. Yesterday, I read one article on rediff which said Maruti is planning diesel models for Alto and WagonR as well!! Here is the link - Maruti plans to launch 5 more new cars - Rediff.com Business

So looks like for each Maruti model, customer will get an option - Diesel or Petrol!

[DieselFan]

Originally Posted by civic-sense

The increase in diesel cars and consequent consumption of diesel as fuel is alarming. Crude, when refined yields approximately 50% petrol and 25% diesel. If more and more cars switch to diesel, soon oil cos would have unused petrol stocks. Hopefully, the govt would increase diesel taxes, then.

This information is wrong and totally misleading. If this was the case then we would be facing severe diesel shortage already (In India we use diesel much more than petrol - at least 5 times more). As a matter of fact personal cars amount to a consumption of 0.6% of total diesel consumption. Crude oil refineries have a mechanism to adjust the output of various petroleum products and they manage this very effectively to arrive at the right breakup of petrol/diesel/aviation fuel etc.

[tanwaramit]

These numbers are typically cars sent to dealers.

With budget and higher excise duties in March, dealers stocked higher inventory for March for Alto.

Come April, the extra stock didnt clear and dealers didnt order more.

Swift is selling at peak with waiting periods, as much as produced is gobbled up by market. Hence swift numbers seem higher.

[Coolman]

Originally Posted by sidindica

From Hindustan times

History repeats itself, truth be told.
...
The swift has now over taken the alto for the bestselling car in the country with a cumulative dealer dispatches of 19484 units compared to alto's 17,482 units. Three out of every 4 swift cars sold are diesel.
...

Originally Posted by GTO

...
I'm more concerned about why the Alto hit 17K, which is 40% lesser than what it usually manages.

My best guess is there has been some hit in production, over delivery, scheduled plant maintenance or supply issue. 17K Altos is a peculiar month and chances are, an exception rather than the rule.
...

Folks,

This is strange.

"Alto sales dropping by more than 50% in a month (Alto recorded 35K+ sales in Mar 2012) to 17K in Apr 2012"

Very strange! Unless...

• The numbers published (in Hindustan Times as mentioned by sidindica) are for one model of Alto only, meaning Alto sales are usually recorded without distinguishing between Alto and Alto K10; possibly this time around, the number 17K might be for Alto (or Alto K10) alone.

• Or, there has been a shift in production focus (as mentioned by GTO) for various reasons.

If one of the above 2 reasons don't justify the numbers, then I don't think the Joker will dare say "Why so serious?"

Thanks,
C_

[amitayu]

Besides the supply side constraints that many are suggesting, one possible explanation from the demand side could be that prospective buyers of Alto are much more budget sensitive than prospective buyers of Swift.
The price hike in the recent GOI Budget can be a factor in that case, as the slightest hike could trigger a shift in buying decisions of the more budget sensitive buyers.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by amitayu

Besides the supply side constraints that many are suggesting, one possible explanation from the demand side could be that prospective buyers of Alto are much more budget sensitive than prospective buyers of Swift.
The price hike in the recent GOI Budget can be a factor in that case, as the slightest hike could trigger a shift in buying decisions of the more budget sensitive buyers.

I do not agree, as there is not much below an Alto base model, which should have sent the customers to Nano or Spark. That did not happen, so here we have a case of missing 17k customers.

A massive drop in Alto numbers is either a production reconfiguration - manufacturing more swifts instead of Alto, or as rumored a possibility of a diesel Alto in the pipeline.

[civic-sense]

Originally Posted by DieselFan

This information is wrong and totally misleading. If this was the case then we would be facing severe diesel shortage already (In India we use diesel much more than petrol - at least 5 times more). As a matter of fact personal cars amount to a consumption of 0.6% of total diesel consumption. Crude oil refineries have a mechanism to adjust the output of various petroleum products and they manage this very effectively to arrive at the right breakup of petrol/diesel/aviation fuel etc.

That is interesting. Any sources that I can refer to? Do you mean that while refining a barrel of crude, I can adjust the refining process so that I can get a barrel of petroleum jelly out of it?

Check this: Table 33. Percent yield of petroleum products by PAD and refining districts, October 2005. - Free Online Library

[sandeepmdas]

Originally Posted by civic-sense

That is interesting. Any sources that I can refer to? Do you mean that while refining a barrel of crude, I can adjust the refining process so that I can get a barrel of petroleum jelly out of it?

Exactly that's the way it works.

Refining of Petroleum

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by civic-sense

That is interesting. Any sources that I can refer to? Do you mean that while refining a barrel of crude, I can adjust the refining process so that I can get a barrel of petroleum jelly out of it?

Check this: Table 33. Percent yield of petroleum products by PAD and refining districts, October 2005. - Free Online Library

Not exactly. What you do is to "Crack" - break up the longer molecules into shorter (lighter) molecules. So if you have petroleum jelly (long molecule) you can crack it in the refinery and get petrol or diesel (shorter molecules), but not vice verso.

In effect as the shorter molecules (lighter distillates) are higher revenue products compared to longer ones like tar, refineries can tailor the quantum of petrol, diesel, ATF etc that the refinery can output.

[civic-sense]

Originally Posted by Aroy

Not exactly. What you do is to "Crack" - break up the longer molecules into shorter (lighter) molecules. So if you have petroleum jelly (long molecule) you can crack it in the refinery and get petrol or diesel (shorter molecules), but not vice verso.

In effect as the shorter molecules (lighter distillates) are higher revenue products compared to longer ones like tar, refineries can tailor the quantum of petrol, diesel, ATF etc that the refinery can output.

Thanks for the explanation.

Well, now I have another doubt. Is it technically possible to buy diesel and convert it to petrol?

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by civic-sense

Thanks for the explanation.

Well, now I have another doubt. Is it technically possible to buy diesel and convert it to petrol?

Technically yes. Just be careful of the investment required. If I am not wrong a Cracker unit will cost upwards of a Billion Dollars to set up, so unless there is a strategic reason it is not worth while. But you can use the unit to get more petrol and less diesel (as is done in North American refineries) from the crude itself.