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-   -   August 2012 : Indian Car Sales Figures & Analysis (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/125994-august-2012-indian-car-sales-figures-analysis-5.html)

Notwithstanding the slashes (albeit only on the Highline versions), the Polo still doesn't cut it as a VFM car (Assuming that's what VW is trying to position Polo as now). The uninspiring engine (3-cylinder NVH, performance, unremarkable driveability) combined with the cramped space mark it down. Out of the entire VW lineup, it's only the Polo which feels a little undercooked. They will need to get the basics right in a segment such as this, where there's very little room for error. Price cuts on the most expensive variant won't help.
Look at the Figo! The engine is driveable and not too underpowered, the suspension is great, ample space, and cheap to maintain (Ford's Child Parts Strategy seems to be paying off) and then the fantastic pricing to top it all off. It's got all the bases covered. Regardless of the market conditions and fluctuations, that's one car that can take hits and keep bouncing back against the marketing muscle and reach of Maruti and Co.
The Polo's got too many holes in it:D

Excellent analysis. I seriously cannot understand the logic of Maruti continuing with the production of A Star and Estilo. Is it not better to stop the production of these brands and divert the manufacturing capacity to better selling models such as Swift and Desire?

Another reason for the poor selling of petrol cars (other than the pricing of petrol) is the poor used car prices the manufacturers give for their own cars even if you are exchanging it for another car from the same stable. I was offered 5 lacs for a 2009 model Altis petrol (top variant) which cost me 1285000 when new by Toyota U Trust when I was cosidering its exchange for a Fortuner in Aug 2012!

IMO the Duster bubble may not last for long as the A.S.S efficiency is an unknown quantity. Is the rumour true that most of Renualt dealerships are owned by erstwhile Fiat dealers (of the Palio, Siena era) ?

I think it is mandatory for car manufacturers to share the data with SIAM , which then sells it on annual subscription basis. The question is why below vehicle figures never get published ? is it not mandatory for them to share data?
1. Force Motors
2. Mahindra Reva
3. Sonalika Rhino
There are many others as well...

Actually its wrong to compare Polo with Figo. Figo is not positioned as a premium car. Polo is very much positioned in the market as a premium small car.

Polo should be compared with i20 and Jazz. i20 is highly successful (on that basis it can be argued that all the bells and whistles do sell). Thats what the geniuses at VW are now trying to do - match i20 for features. The mango junta in India do not look at Engines that much as much as they look at differentiators like ACC or beige interiors or other feel good factors etc.

Just like Polo Honda also had to bite the bullet with Jazz and lower its price. The outstanding Jazz is just the perfect car for India - big on Inside, quality all around, drivable, efficient, reliable etc etc. Yet it doesnt sell much. Its even beaten by the Honda City every single month!

Well Polo does have one distinct disadvantage - the wafer thin VW network (comparatively - thats what is i20s trump card I believe). And the various attitude problems at dealers further enhance its (un)popularity and lower its sale-ability. VW does not seem to be very much serious about India - yet!

Being the owner of a FIAT vehicle it pains me to see the company's sales going down. Only if they focused on the brand building for their fantastic vehicles.

I would like to add to the statistics with figures for segment-wise market share over a period of last month, 3 months and 6 months. These numbers give a fair picture of each vehicles market share within its own segment and whether they are gaining or losing.

Segmentation might not be perfect but I have done it to the best of my knowledge. I have left out vehicles (such as Prius, 370Z) as they have negligible impact in overall market share. Have also highlighted (in yellow) top 10 sellers for each month over the past six months. Hope this is helpful.

Thanks GTO for the excellent report and analysis ! Sad to note that my favorite Jazz did not meet your cutoff of 500 units per month. Guess Brios diesel is around the corner, any idea when Jazz would have a diesel engine?

In Mar-2010, when I was on the lookout for a hatch back the choice was just between the polo and figo. Jazz was out because of the high price tag and never even considered the i20.
For an average buyer like me, there was nothing premier-ish about the polo apart from the huge VW logo. Looked at all of the features, space, ride etc and finally settled for the Figo.

Please the Polo is not a premium hatch, being a VW or a skoda is not a premium thing. Car makers saying their product is in a different league does not make it so. The market decides on that part.

The Polo is a very average hatch the world over, the VW golf is a good product again not premium. The BMW Mini or the Fiat 500 on the other hand are premium hatches.

Cheers

Soo you considered Polo and Figo and bought the Figo. I am not sure what to make out of it! That does not change the fact where both these vehicles are placed in the market. Most people buy like that - they look at many products, sometimes even across segments and then buy whatever they like most. In your case it was the Figo and it is a very good car to buy.

If you read carefully, I didnt say it 'is' a premium hatch; I said it is "positioned" as a premium hatch by the company which is a fact (very well recognised on this forum as well). Some companies are considered premium in India (like Honda, VW, Skoda, Toyota etc) that are just run of mill elsewhere. Theres nothing wrong in that. A 9L rupee small car has to be considered premium. Mini or 500 are not targetted at same segment or buyers. and golf is not available in India so we dont know how the company might position it if they ever launch it here.

The Polo is positioned as "premium" only to justify the higher price tag & service costs.
Features & space, which should ideally differentiate premium from others are non existent comparing the high end versions of competitors (which are cheaper)

Wonder how VW UP! will be positioned.

OT
If you dig deeper, in our country any product be it car, mobile, hospital, etc. is considered premium only if its priced higher, worst A.S.S., have some un-Indian features (wiper stalk on RHS) in summary, the customer should not drive the car, the car drives the customer and the manufacturer make customer dance. If all these conditions are met, then only a product is considered premium. Maruti fails absurdly in that.

The ARIA sales are extremely disappointing, right now, the only thing TATA can do is sell the ARIA at a huge loss by slashing the price drastically, when we have enough ARIAs on the road then they can slowly inch the price upwards

Also looks like buyers have given up on the STORME, fed up of waiting for the launch, looks like they are plonking their money on the current SAFARI

VW Polo was the World Care of the Year in 2010. So it must be a pretty good car, atleast the versions sold in EU.

I do not believe any of these commercially inclined awards as almost all of them are biased or have some other agenda.

I am also not saying the polo is a bad car, it just is not worth the price VW asks for it and in no way is it or anything associated with it premium.