[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

Diwali didn’t bring that cracker of a month this time around. Sales were sub-par for most car manufacturers, although stalwarts like Maruti, Hyundai & Mahindra made the most of available opportunities. October 2012 shipments did see a noticeable spike in anticipation of higher festive deliveries, albeit things were back to normal in November.

Important to note that dealers are wary of inventories this time of the year. Few customers want to buy a 2012 build car in 2013. A one month difference in the manufacturing date can sway values 10 - 15% at the time of resale. The dealer's sole focus in December is to enter January with the minimal number of cars on hand (also explains year end discounts).

Maruti’s cars hold the No.1 - 4 positions in November and its factories are running without any trouble at all. The Alto 800 appears to have been accepted well. Maruti’s conservative approach with the new car seems to be paying off. As mentioned in our review, the new Alto retains the strengths of the old car and improves upon some of its weaknesses. Last month saw the Alto nudging the 24,000 mark. To put things in perspective, that’s more than the total sales of every other manufacturer, except for Hyundai and on par with Mahindra. The Swift has an exceptionally strong month @ 17K units, while the Dzire is chewing through its waiting list at a steady pace. Maruti’s first diesel UV - the Ertiga - appears unshakable at the 7K mark, bringing fat profits as it is based on an existing platform using existing mechanicals. I can’t think of any other UV that recorded such volumes in less than a year of launch. The other performer from the Maruti stable is the petrol-only WagonR, even if it’s a far cry from the peak of 16K in September. The Omni & Eeco are unable to touch previously held levels, primarily due to commercial operators being allergic to high petrol prices. Nothing works like a fat discount in India, even for a 20 lakh car. Just look at the Kizashi; from barely making it to the double digits until September, a 5 lakh discount has led to 71 shipments this month (and 35 in the last). Bringing up the rear are the expected duds like the A-Star, Estilo and long-in-the-tooth SX4. By the way, the Thar outsold the Gypsy in a 6:1 ratio.

With cumulative sales at about the ~35,000 mark, November was the 2nd best month for Hyundai from May 2012. Ever since the new Alto’s launch, Hyundai has rekindled the Eon’s marketing efforts. There’s been some shuffling of variants & features too. Result = The Eon records its best month in 6. Just like the WagonR, the petrol-only i10 also has a great Diwali, narrowly missing the 10,000 shipment mark. A decent month for the i20 & Santro too. The Verna sees a 20% dip on its usual levels, still remaining the best selling C2 sedan. The Elantra continues as the D1 sedan to beat; its margin to previous toppers like the Corolla & Cruze is commendable. Hyundai just can’t shake off the Sonata jinx. It’s a paltry 20 for the third month in a row. Meanwhile, the Accent simply refuses to die. Where’s that dead horse smiley again?

The vintage Bolero rides the gravy train and how! As if selling 9K units every month wasn’t enough, India’s favourite UV gives a back-to-back 5 digit performance. Competition from modern UVs be damned. In my Quanto review, I'd predicted that the mini-SUV will effectively double the Xylo platform’s volumes to 4K. That’s exactly what’s happening. Business as usual for the XUV500 & Scorpio which sell nearly the same number of copies last month. We’ll wait & watch on the Rexton, especially how it performs against the more established brands & premium SUVs (early days yet). The Verito? Right where she deserves to be.

Tata’s gap to Mahindra has slowly & steadily increased in the last quarter. There’s now a 25% difference between the two! Good news & bad news for the boys from Pune. The Indica sisters have a respectable month @ the 7K level, and the repositioned Sumo is enjoying far better volumes than ever before. The Aria gets 341 shipments, quite an improvement over the earlier months. On the flip side, the Nano hits a low 3.5K score, while the talented Manza just isn’t able to capture the customer’s mind or heart. Let’s gauge over the coming quarter what the Storme can manage. It’s undoubtedly the best Safari till date, yet might be a classic case of “too little, too late” (rhyme is unintentional).

Status quo at Toyota. The UVs (Innova & Fortuner) bring volumes home, but the Japanese giant hasn’t figured out the hatchback / sedan market entirely yet. Must say the Innova appears to be feeling the heat, unable to climb back to the 6,000+ performances it put up in the Jun - Aug period. Nevertheless, a good show by the people mover. Not even the "T" badge stops customers from ignoring the Etios & Liva for the more contemporary Swift, Dzire, i20 et al. The Corolla has ensconced itself at position no.2 in the D1 segment, but the petrol-only premium-priced Camry was never going to be a Skoda Superb slayer.

I’ve always insisted that a new product takes Chevrolet's attention away from the old. As soon as the Beat was launched, the Spark nosedived. Now, with the Sail’s launch, Beat levels have dramatically gone down. C’mon, this car was a regular visitor to the 5,000 spot! The new Sail is an all-rounded hatchback and even has India’s national engine under its hood. The product teams have done their job well. The short / long term success of the Beat & Sail depend entirely on Chevrolet’s marketing machine & aggression levels. The Spark has a spurt, albeit not close to the 3,000 sales this li’l car enjoyed in 2011. Despite all this, Chevrolet manages to climb back up to overall position no. 6 in the Indian car scene. Reason = A wide portfolio.

The market can’t seem to have enough of the Duster and Renault’s grinning all the way to the bank. At 5,251 dispatches, the Duster is the best selling SUV in India. Not only that, the Duster is at the top of the C2 game (including sedans) as well. This single hot product has seen Renault overtake Ford, VW, Honda, Skoda etc. in India. The Scala is slowly & steadily moving toward the 1K mark. The Pulse, Fluence & Koleos? Unnecessary distractions at the moment.

The Fiesta Classic has quite a drop to 3 digit levels. Even then, it outsells its intended replacement (the new Fiesta) SEVEN times over. The Figo remains Ford’s star performer, although with a 20-25% correction on the August - October numbers, and that of November 2011. All eyes on the highly anticipated EcoSport then.

Not much has changed at VW. The Polo has 3,400 shipments while the Vento sails at 2,000. Still, the most recent quarter has been better for these two cars than the June-Aug period. VW’s overall volumes fall much short of the group’s expectations. Must be quite a pressure cooker situation at the BKC office. Competition is making things tough and there isn’t a “blockbuster” launch from VW for a long time now. The great looking Jetta runs neck to neck with the Laura, month after month.

Honda sits quite a distance behind VW and must be counting the days to the Amaze diesel’s launch. From Vid6639's review (elsewhere on Team-BHP), the Amaze seems to be a competent entry-level sedan. The Brio is the only Honda to cross 2,000 deliveries. The City has a steep fall; no doubt, dealer channels were stuffed to the gill last month.

Nissan faced logistical challenges due to its dealers being up in arms against Hover Automotive (the unnecessary middle party). While the Sunny has a 1,600+ month, the recently launched Evalia is yet to start rolling. Hit it while it's hot Nissan, else you'll miss the train. There isn’t a doubt that the company is under-performing with the product portfolio & diesels it has on hand.

Not much to celebrate at Skoda. I find it inexplicable that the well-priced & all-rounded Rapid struggles at the 1,100 mark. Relative to their segments, the Laura & Superb have reasonable performances. The less said about the Fabia & Yeti, the better.

The new Pajero Sport takes over from where the ol’ Pajero left off, while the Ambassador outsells the Linea! For the first time, HM-Mitsubishi is ahead of Fiat, relegating the Italian company to last position.

Diesels : Petrols

Here's a belated Diwali treat . We managed to get our hands on the diesel : petrol split for some models. Other manufacturers aren't willing to share (they'll come around eventually).

Ford Figo - 4,628 : 157 (Diesel : Petrol)
Fiesta Classic - 799 : 82
Fiesta New - 105 : 19

HM Ambassador - 183 : 77

Nissan Micra - 706 : 143
Nissan Sunny - 1343 : 320

Renault Duster - 5142 : 109
Renault Pulse - 420 : 16
Renault Scala - 798 : 9
Renault Fluence - 72 : 10

Skoda Fabia - 98 : 35
Skoda Rapid - 851 : 248
Skoda Laura - 187 : 22
Skoda Superb - 49 : 71

Toyota Liva - 1,820 : 361
Toyota Etios - 1,614 : 436
Toyota Corolla - 221 : 141

[GTO]

[GTO]

[GTO]

[yogeshnagpal]

Whats wrong with the City after the initial Spike in October ? I thought that CNG model would inject some life and improve sales. Any thought whats happening with the city ?

[CoolFire]

Great to have the diesel petrol breakup for some manufacturers. Not much of surprises there though, with diesel giving a huge majority of volumes. Other manufacturers should have similar break ups.

Thanks GTO and team. The agonizing wait was well worth it.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by CoolFire

Great to have the diesel petrol breakup for some manufacturers. Not much of surprises there though, with diesel giving a huge majority of volumes.

There is a surprise indeed. Look at the Skoda Superb! Even with premium cars, the diesels have substantially outsold their petrol counterparts. With the Superb however, the petrol is quite competent and considerably cheaper to the diesel.

[Abhi_abarth]

Thank you GTO & Parry's for the most awaited report as usual.

I hope to see Chevy's Sail climbing the charts in upcoming months.

As usual, it's hurts to see Fiat's numbers falling like a pack of cards (it already fell). Not sure what they have in their mind.

Another periodic disappointed is Mitsubishi. Are they even able to meet the operation expenses with such numbers ? currently it looks like only the Amby and Pajero sports are providing life support.

Hope these two bounce back in the market.

Last but not least, thank you so much for the petrol/diesel breakups. An icing on the cake I should say.

Cheers !

[Koenigsegg220]

A well deserved 5 star thread again !
Thank you for posting the detailed analysis just as you used to do before.
It is very considerate on the part of manufacturers to share the split sales of petrol and diesel.
The Diesel : Petrol ratio of Duster is 5142 : 109 . One petrol for every 50 diesel cars

That shows the diesel thirst of our market.
By the way, Superb is the only car where Diesel sales < Petrol's. Is it due to the enthusiasts buying the V6 engine ?

[anu21v]

Ok so this news was kind of Hoax that Tata's Numbers have dropped to sub 10K figure.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...igures-10.html

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/17456702.cms

Looks like that sub 10K number was for Commercial Vehicle only.

[hawrie]

There is a steady decrease in Innova sales m-o-m and a corresponding increase in Ertiga sales. But I am not sure if people looking for an Innova are switching over to Ertiga. Can GTO throw some light on who is chipping away at Innova?

[Blow Horn Ok]

On the other hand, Maruti. Mahindra and Hyundai must be satisfied with the current figures. Ford should plan and position the Eco-Sport very carefully to prevent the Fiesta Story. Figo figures are quite low considering the Discounts on old version and launch of refreshed one!

[rangarx]

Spot on! Thanks.

Hyundais never cease to amaze me. Not so good looking IMHO. Again, taste differs a lot.

Tata, why they don't click? God knows.

[narayan]

Originally Posted by GTO

There is a surprise indeed. Look at the Skoda Superb! Even with premium cars, the diesels have substantially outsold their petrol counterparts. With the Superb however, the petrol is quite competent and considerably cheaper to the diesel.

I think the only other car where Petrol sales would be more ( and substantially at that ) than diesel would be the i20.

1) M&M Rises as TaTa slyps --- Storme does not seem to have made an impact. Even with a all new Scorpio supposedly to be launched in 2013, the current Scorpio is going really strong.

2) There is a 25% dip in Fortuner sales MOM - is this the Rexton effect ? Going by the momentum M&M has built, I woundnt be surprised if the Fortuner volumes dip to 3 digits.

3) D1 segment sedans seem to be languishing. This entire segment seems to have been impacted by the SUV onslaught. Even Cruze sales are down. Elantra has not been able to make any major impact.

4) Why is Hyundai wasting its time with the Accent ? How about a Verna petrol corporate edition ?

5) I feel Etios and Liva have not managed numbers as per their potential. Maybe the market wants some beige interiors which is probably on the way