[GTO]

NOTES:

1: Only cars that sell 500+ units (and thus, the relevant ones) have been included in the gainers & losers chart.

2. A big shout-out to parrys for preparing these beautiful charts & graphs!

[GTO]

Movers & Shakers

A good month for the top 3 manufacturers! For the majority though, inventory levels at the dealer level are piling up & discounts are being fine-tuned by the day. In the hope of clearing up inventory, some car makers actually announced a price hike kicking in from 1st October. Cheap gimmick as we’re still waiting for that supposed hike

Car makers have no option but to pin their hope on the upcoming festive season. Diesel prices went up by a whopping 5 - 6 Rupees / liter in September. It’s hard to believe that the “cheap” fuel now costs as much as “expensive” petrol did in April 2010. Direct effect : A recovery in petrol-only cars like the WagonR, i10, Eeco etc. Interest rates are softening down too.

It might be a mediocre month for the others, but determined Maruti is nudging the 90K monthly level again, thanks to jump starting its Manesar factory. Procedures to convert “temporary” workers into “permanent” are running in full swing; hopefully, that’s the end of frequent labour trouble. The Alto & WagonR had a blockbuster month, impressive considering that they only have petrol engines to power them. The Ritz goes on to record its highest sales in history, no doubt gaining from the Swift’s long delivery period! The Swift & Dzire are also getting back in the game, we can just hear a sigh of relief from those on the waiting list. Good performances from the Ertiga, Omni & Eeco. Maruti has a lot riding on the back of the upcoming Alto 800. It will be interesting to see the market’s response to this new cheap hatchback.

First-time success in the 10+ lakh segment must taste sweet for Hyundai. The new Elantra @ 781 cars outsells previous segment leaders - the Corolla & the Cruze - combined. The Verna formula has worked even in a segment above. The i20 & Verna, the other modern Hyundai’s, appear unaffected by lazy market conditions. Though its numbers are impressive, the Verna does record its lowest point in 6 months. The petrol-only i10 & Eon have a good month, though the ageing Santro clearly doesn’t have the legs anymore to compete with its younger siblings. The poorly positioned Sonata is dead on arrival, now languishing at a mere 20 units. Time to R-I-P, Hyundai Accent?

Mahindra grabs the no.3 spot from Tata once again. It seems that the market just can’t have enough of the XUV500 which records its best month ever, outselling the noticeably cheaper Scorpio. Hard to believe that the best selling SUV in India is a 15 lakh rupee model! Not one to give up the limelight, the Bolero moves ever closer to 10K units. On the flip side, the facelifted Xylo rolls down (pun intended ) with only the outdated Verito for company. The Mahindra Quanto, India’s 2nd sub-4 meter SUV, debuts on our charts this month. Official Review up in a week.

Sombre September for Tata Motors, new chief Karl Slym clearly has his work cut out. The Indica sisters & the Sumo are the only cars who’ve performed well in their respective segments. The Indigo, Manza & Nano are running way below their potential; the products are competent and I only have Tata’s marketing department to blame. Bad month for the Aria, but what’s new right?

A dark September for Toyota. Only the Fortuner & Innova have ended up with an “A” on their report card. With the Etios & Liva faring very poorly in their respective segments, Toyota is realising that selling VFM hatchbacks & sedans is a completely different ballgame to premium-priced UVs. The Corolla is outdone by the Hyundai Elantra for those customers desiring rear seat comfort & reliability.

Not much has changed at Ford. The Figo stays at the respectable 6K mark for the second month in a row, while the Fiesta Classic sells 10 times more than its global replacement, the new Fiesta.

Chevrolet’s shining star, the Beat Diesel, runs its 3 cylinders at max rpm. The Tavera is cashing in on the emergence of the UV segment. But the facelifted Cruze doesn’t make a mark as the old one did, and the list of other duds runs long in the GM family. Hard to believe that the Spark was a consistent 3,000 / month performer only a year back. We are testing the new Sail in a couple of days. Let’s see what she has to offer.

Renault leaves VW, Honda, sister Nissan & Skoda in the “dust” with its newest SUV! The French company is selling all the Dusters it can make, with a whopping 4,211 rolling out of the Chennai factory in September. No rub-off effect on the Pulse yet, though we’ll be closely following the Scala’s performance. It’s spacious, practical & fuel-efficient...with one BIG problem : The cheaper & identical Nissan Sunny.

The petrol-only Honda City remains Honda’s best seller, nearly touching the 3,000 mark. The Brio fails to make an impression, along with the Jazz. These two hatchbacks are extremely competent and well-priced. What’s wrong with Honda? The Civic, Accord & CRV are classic examples of a has-been.

VW’s Polo witnesses a spike in demand (@ 3,000 copies), as does the Vento. The feature update & price revision helped their cause. But there isn’t a doubt that both have sub-par performances, far below the projections that giant VW had set for them. Ze Germans must be wondering what a tricky market ours is. VW should start with the dealers. God alone knows how many potential customers are put off by dealer apathy.

Dampened spirits at Skoda. The Rapid is such a well-priced all-rounded sedan with a fast, frugal diesel engine. It’s not moving off showroom floors fast enough, despite having the potential to consistently do 3,000 a month, if not 4,000. Meanwhile, the Yeti has a bright moment, outselling even the Laura last month! The luxo-barge Superb maintains its position as the king of the D2-sedan segment.

The Fiat Linea hits a new low with a mere 59 units shipped. As always, the vintage Ambassador is the one paying HM’s bills. The new Pajero Sport appears to have had a problem with supplies / imports.

[GTO]

[GTO]

[GTO]

[girishglg]

Thanks GTO for yet another super analysis of the most awaited thread of the month. Have been refreshing the screen all these days just to look up to this thread.

It is heartning to see Swift and Dzire numbers going back to normalcy even though it is just half of the original numbers. Overall Maruti has been trying its best to crawl out of the pits from last month with some good numbers from its warhorses -Alto and WagonR.

With Alto800 launch round the corner, they may make even better numbers in the coming months though the older Alto would get canibalized to some extent. The facelifted Ritz seems to be doing some brisk numbers and so is the Ertiga.

Also good to see Duster clocking some good numbers something that has been eluding the Renault / Nissan twins for a long time and also a star performer in the names of M & M who are growing from strength to strength. Must watch out if Quanto pulls them up even further in the coming months though not expecting to be a blockbuster hit.

The laggard club had many takers such as Fiat, Nissan, HM, with Honda, Tata and GM slowly making an entry unless they shake up their portfolio very soon. Dismal performances of able brands like Spark, Punto, Fabia, SX4 adding to their companies woes and brings up the question if they really need some of these to be continued at all!

Thanks GTO!! my wait is finally over.

Maruti is back to its actual charts. Last month was a surprise. However WagonR volumes are a bit surprising to me.

Swift is below the MUV bolero
Duster volumes are unaffected as i thought. So this should be my next pick. (if possible.)

GTO: In the charts, i see that European cars sold 7% so does it include Italian FIAT too?

[camon]

OMG!!!!!
Stunning performance from Renault.
Firing the chart with just "1" portfolio. However if they would launched Scala with Killer pricing. Its certain they climb-up the chart leaving other brand say ford in dust(er)

[Jignesh]

Thank you once again GTO for the in-depth analysis month on month, every month.

Maruti WagonR is back in business by selling 16,000+ units in September, which is growth of 25% year on year & 60% month on month. This can be linked to Diesel price hike, but I feel currently major of WagonR's sold are CNG versions. WagonR Green (CNG version) remains the best option for people looking for a purely city & economical car.

Also it is surprising the see the Fiat Linea selling only 59 units in month of September. Afterall Linea is a very good Car & sales of just 59 units in month of Septermber is not justified. Is this to do with Fiat's marketing or people are really scared of Fiat's after sales service.

Thanks,

[RavenAvi]

Fantastic timing. Rated thread a superbly deserved 5-stars (again, as usual by T-BHP standards).

Wow, what a turnaround by Renault India! For being in the doldrums a couple of months back, it's made an incredible recovery to being a major player in the Indian auto industry. And all that due to just one competent, well-priced product (aptly named as well). Heartening to see the Duster match the segment-topper Verna in sales!

I am quite perplexed by the dwindling figures of the Brio. It's such a smart, well-rounded package and a great option in it's segment, yet after it's initial peak, has gone down. Honda really needs to expand it's A.S.S. centers a bit more, and concentrate a bit on advertising as well. Let's hope that the Brio AT and the City CNG add more numbers to the company's monthly sales. Lack of diesels is hurting them badly but they have next year to look forward to.

Linea @ 59 must be at it's lowest ever. A classy product only let down by it's company's terrible A.S.S. image. Not sure if the Fiat Caffes are doing their job. Fiat needs to address this quick.

Sunny's numbers have gone down. Scala effect? Surprising, because there's nothing to distinguish between both cars, except the head lamps and tail lights. Either that, or potential Sunny customers reverted to the Duster or the Quanto.

What is the Rapid doing wrong? Only reason which comes to mind is the pathetic state of affairs at Skoda's customer care and A.S.S. (something which they have addressed to, recently). It's a superb alternative to the pricey Vento, yet is not racking up the numbers. Guess Brand VW still commands the mindset of the average Indian than Brand Skoda. That being said, the Vento isn't exactly setting the charts on fire, either. From gaining over 4500+ sales at one time and dethroning the Honda City from it's commanding throne, it's come down to less than 2000 units this month. Maybe the "fire incidents" are having the effect for both these very capable sedans.

Looking down the list, every manufacturer has a volume product in it's portfolio, except for HM-Mitsubishi. It's hard to imagine that the corporate honchos there would be satisfied with these kinds of sales figures. They either need to go back to the drawing board and re-draw a new strategy of tackling the Indian market (maybe take a lesson or two from Renault), or pack their bags. At this rate, they are going nowhere.

The next 2 months should see some good sales. It will be interesting to see if there will be a noticeable increase in sales, or just small peaks.

Thanks for the report, as usual in brilliant detail and analysis.

[fuel_addict]

Fantastic compilation as always. Good to see strong performances from Renault and Mahindra. The XUV 500 is putting cheaper cars to shame with the sales numbers. The Duster too has been impressive. Swift and D-Zire numbers are encouraging even though they are at 60% of the max levels.

Honda is just about staying above 2K levels with the Brio. It will be interesting to see how they fare once the AT Brio is launched. I don't expect too much of a difference.

VW can feel good about the Polo numbers. Price cut and added features have helped. The German car fascination has managed to pull in some more numbers at the expense of a sub-par engine.

Elantra numbers are impressive. It is doing what the Verna did when it was launched. The D segment has a lot of options even though the segment overall does not seem to have a great demand.

[Simhi]

Thanks GTO and parrys for detailed information.

Here are few observations from my end

Maruti - Surprised to see Wagon R sell more than Dzire/Swift. Any replacement for SX4 in the offing?

M&M - Need to see in coming months if Quanto is going to eat into Xylo sales. I think Duster is already eating into Xylo sales. Eager to read the upcoming Quanto review.

GM - Is Optra still being produced? GM should stop production of Aveo (with upcoming Sail), Aveo UVA and Optra. Let's see if Sail turns around GM fortune.

Hyundai - Eon (3 cyl) selling more than Santro (4 cyl) - price?

Tata - Waiting for Storme launch. Can it take on Scorpio, Duster and its own Safari?

Toyota - Innova having one of its worst month - Duster effect?

[dZired]

As always, that's a superb sales analysis. Thanx a lot GTO an parrys. Rated it a much deserved 5 stars.

The most strange thing I observed as soon as I opened this thread is the sales figures of the most successful hatchback - swift. Just 9136? Looks like this brand is still not totally out of the manesar scene. On the other hand, the diesel price hike has surely boosted up the sales of wagonR.

The "storme" effect has started affecting the volumes of TATA Safari hugely. Its high time that TATA launches the upgrade.

The most amazing part of this analysis is the response Renault is getting for its lone successful product-the Duster. Moreover, its good to see the success of the Mahindra XUV 500. It, overshining the scorpio, makes more room for M&M to plan the upgrade of the scorpio now.

So finally the products which have true potential are getting what they deserve. Exceptions to this are the skoda rapid & yeti, the TATA stable (except indica siblings), FIAT linea and punto, HONDA brio and ofcourse the Toyota etios and liva.

The two models which I strongly think should be called off are the chevy spark and the Hyundai accent. The market has forgotten that such products still exist.

[rajneeesh]

Maruti needs a replacement for the SX4. At one time they used to sell approx 1500-2000 units. now despite the CNG and Diesel, the sales are down to 250 odd. A part of it may have to do with the strife ant Manesar. With production creeping back to normal, this no should increase. However, the SX4 has been in the market for 5 years + and the market has moved on since then. The City is also due for replacement in a years time. This is one product which cannot fail if Honda wants to remain relevant in the Indian market.

[shivasuma]

Elantra selling 781 units is a surprise to me. Looks like the features and styling is working in the upper segment too. When I test drove it, it felt like a bigger I20 (a big no no for me since I already own one), but I guess this is what worked for it. And I contributed one to the Jetta's count.