[bigautobuff]

Was checking the numbers for annual sales and hyundai i10 has done quite badly last year in comparison with Wagon R. While the Vistas and the Ritz of the world have caught up, i10 has been hit quite hard. I guess there is some problem with the way i10 in being positioned and the changes in the auto consumer profile.

Should it be positioned as a first car for the well to do Indian ?

[aaggoswami]

1) I think the sales of Eon figures have gone up with the downward trend of i10 sales. This indicates the problem of overlap and very much common design. At night ( and from a reasonable distance ) it becomes very difficult to tell which Hyundai car is coming from dead front. Things have become too common to most car buying public. This was first mistake. Otherwise i10 should sell as it already has two engine options compared to one in case of Wagon R. This overlap and common design philosophy ranging from budget car to so called premium luxury car might not go down well with all. And as a city car, it wont matter much if one is driving Eon or i10 ( for most of car buying public ).

2) I am not sure on this, but i10 has earned a reputation for lower fuel efficiency as compared to Maruti Wagon R/competition. With increasing fuel prices ( and also lack of predictability in pricing ), people might become a bit hesitant to purchase i10.

[CoolFire]

One observation from my interaction with a limited number of friends who are i10 owners - most of them feel bad about service costs after some years, especially compared to wagon R/Ritz. The difference may not be huge, but for this segment, every penny counts. Same seems to be the case with resale value also.

[ampere]

- Wagon-R shifted to 1L K-Series which helps its sales from an FE point of view
- Ritz sells more so because of diesel.

- If some one is looking at petrol motor, mostly he would go with Swift thanks to driving dynamics

- i10 USP was getting reduced to a get AT version which is very spacious. I guess this still holds. (A-Star not withstanding from a space point of view)
- But now with Brio AT also coming in and also Ritz AT (?) with backing of Maruti network, i10 has definitely found more competition.
- Not to mention higher labour costs.
- I think thats the main reason, they are also looking at the diesel in its next avatar.

[ghodlur]

Is it the Eon's increasing sales eating into i10 sales? Also when was the last time i10 given a facelift. Add to it the poor FE & suspension issues have made the customers run to the service workshop quite too often. My colleague who owns one dreads to go on a long trip coz his last two trips - one to Goa and one to Coorg resulted in suspensions replacement.

The only thing that can save the falling i10 sales numbers is the introduction of a diesel variant. One thought is to suggest the discontinuation of i10 and Hyundai coming up with an entry level sedan.

[romeomidhun]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

1) I think the sales of Eon figures have gone up with the downward trend of i10 sales.

2) I am not sure on this, but i10 has earned a reputation for lower fuel efficiency as compared to Maruti Wagon R/competition.

Rightly said.

1. Eon eats into the market of i10 and Santro. For those who are looking for a female-ish car, Eon is more than enough, IMO.
2. Lower i20 versions are eating into the i10 pie.
3. The higher maintenance cost is another reason.
4. The low fuel efficiency of i10 is adding fuel to the downtrend.
5. Bumpy ride at the rear causes many veterans to remove this car from their list.
6. Low resale value makes many first time customers to think again when going for this car.
7. And then, the lack of a Diesel engine!
8. Availability of other non-Maruti products like Figo, Micra, Beat, Polo etc is another reason, IMO. For those who are looking for a car outside Maruti stable, there are a lot of options available now.

[dhanushs]

From what I've heard, i10 isn't exactly cheap to maintain when it comes to replacing spares.

And yeah, I know Kappa (1st gen) owners who even get 10kmpl or so.

Both of these factors aren't exactly friendly to a hatch buyer. And add to it a truck load of competition in that segment.

[avira_tk]

This car costs more than an Innova(with 2k+ per month running) when it comes to scheduled service. The feel isn't all that great and the rejig has meant that newer versions have too little kit on offer with quite a stiff price tag. People have lot of options in the segment, they can overlook this without feeling they are missing out on features.

[vivek.ks]

I own one and completely agree with comments regarding expensive spares and service. Mileage is not so great a Hyundai claims- 12-13 kmpl with AC.

Given the same money today which I had put 2 yrs ago, I will happily buy a better deal from some other Manufacturer. BTW I paid 6.06 L for top-end manual petrol.

[ritheshpaul]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Is it the Eon's increasing sales eating into i10 sales? Also when was the last time i10 given a facelift. Add to it the poor FE & suspension issues have made the customers run to the service workshop quite too often. My colleague who owns one dreads to go on a long trip coz his last two trips - one to Goa and one to Coorg resulted in suspensions replacement.

I have owned an i10 for the past 3.5 yrs and have never been to the service center apart from the regular service intervals. Have made several long trips as well (most recently Bangalore-Mangalore-Goa-Mangalore-Bangalore in one week)and have had no issues whatsoever.
I have talked to many i10 owners as well and the main grouse seems to be the abnormally high service costs.
The main issues I think which have led to reduced sales are:
1. The Eon being positioned too close to the i10
2. The ultra-similar design philosophy for all the cars in the Hyundai stable
3. High servicing costs.
4. Lack of a diesel engine option

[eyesice]

I have to agree and disagree on some of those comments. I own a Kappa2 manual, and the 4 cylinder 80 PS is a gem to drive. The gear shifts, clutch are all butter smooth. I have done a couple of long trips - especially one from Trivandrum to Chennai via Kodaikanal. The roads from Kodai to NH7 were treacherous ( read non-existent ) and I have had no issues with suspension so far.

That said, the service costs are really high IMO. The service engineers will try to drain every penny in your pocket. The mileage is also on the down side. I get around 11 - 13 kmpl with AC here in Chennai. The ride is really bumpy for those in the back. The stock tyres are puny and so forth.

Why the i10 doesn't sell as much as it used to do? The primarily reason would be the i10 does not have a diesel motor.

I don't think one can compare the Kappa2 to the k10 motor the WagonR has. If you check the monthly sales reports, the i10 is the single hatchback in the B segment with a petrol only motor that sells 8k+ units a month ( The swift sells around approx 15k a month. I don't think there would be 8k+ Petrol Swifts rolling out from the 15k ).

[kvish]

My in-laws own the i10 and the service costs are extremely high! Their bills are never below 5-6K for regular service and the usual spares

[supertinu]

Folks, I think there are 2 main factors that are going against i10 and both have to do with cost

• 1st and foremost in my opinion is the hyundai pricing. Its current strategy kind of puts a premium on it and is somewhat pegged closer to cars like figo/swift etc. But in terms of size, comfort and overall dynamics it does not match up to the premium hatchbacks. So if wagon R offers similar comfort and space with slightly lesser premium interiors, i would be more than happy to buy a maruti tag

• Second being the overall maintenance cost. Hyundai maintenance in tier 1 cities has really sky rocketed for all there models. I know my friends pays 3-4K for servicing his Santro and I pay the same at ford for my Ikon. Even in a tier 2 city my father payed 3K for a recent service on Santro. Similar or higher nos can be expected on a i10 which is definitely very high

[Shiv_1984]

Agree with almost all comments here, IMO :

1. It's high time for Hyundai to give a reasonable facelift to i10 the way Maruti did to swift. Change the clothes and make it look fresh, It's an old car now.

2. My brother owns an i10 2009 model, he is getting a mileage of 10kmpl(with AC) in Blore traffic where as my Brio gives avg of 13 kmpl in similiar conditions. Gradually ppl have got to know about this backlog which has always been a USP for i10.

3. Pricing, i10 top end is very close to i20 Magna (petrol) and the latter is far more practical and serves true purpose of being a single family car which IMO i10 doesn't. Similarly, as pointed out earlier, eon top end is close to i10 Magna(not very sure, but isnt too diff to guess). Look at Maruti, how they have positioned Alto, WagonR, swift so close yet so seperable.

4. They have to experiment, just a wild opinion. Drop i10 from portfolio, drop i20 prices right into swift petrol/diesel territory(get more optional packs to offer more features for those who wish in tandem with the prices). Get an entry level sedan like dzire/etios or the upcoming Amaze. There isnt too much competition there and still some room to breathe.

Thanks.

[Warwithwheels]

i10 has simply lost its VFM preposition, which would be the USP for the cars of that segment.

Anybody looking at the base variant of i10 would as well get sold to the mid or top variant of the Eon and in the north the i20 would take care of it.

I got rid of my almost new i10 for three main reasons:

* Ridiculously low fuel economy
* Astronomically high service cost
* Handles like crap on the highways (where I spend the most part of my life)