[vipinendran]

Great analysis GTO, Sad to see the city falling by 98%, maybe the amaze has eaten into it! Sad to see such a good car do so badly ! Well the quanto seems to have gained a little, now is it clawing its way back ? No surprises in the Bolero and scorpio doing well !

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by vipinendran

Great analysis GTO, Sad to see the city falling by 98%, maybe the amaze has eaten into it! Sad to see such a good car do so badly!

There is nothing wrong with the City or Amaze eating into the sales of City. It just that the new Honda City is being unveiled sometime in this or next month so customers are waiting for that and dealers are just getting the stocks out of the yard. I guess the bookings have been stopped till the new one arrives.

Anurag.

[harishpr]

Most expected thread of the month.
India is perhaps the only skewed market where the non standard suv, non standard sedans, like Ecosport, dzire, Scorpio rules the roost. Our money deserves better and proper cars with safety features.
Unless the people's mindset changes, expecting better machines is a distant dream.
How many of the top ten vehicles comes with safety features?? Safety is taken as default in every other market, except india and few African nations.
Here, having safety features is a luxury!!!
I'm extremely disappointed to see the likes of Altos, dzires, scorpios, or even for that matter innova doing well.
As mocked by topgear, ambassador is the best taxi in the world!!!

[ku69rd]

Fantastic Review GTO as usual, A small query.
Would the total number of Bolero include their commercial siblings as well? We have lots of variants like the Mahindra Bolero Pik-up, Bolero Camper with the dual cabin crew?
If yes do we get the Tata Xenon Numbers?

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by GTO

The Classic sees a spurt in demand to 800 units, but the real surprise is the new Fiesta with 410 dispatches. That's the most the flopped sedan has sold in 2 years. Could be down to aggressive promotions & discounts.

Most probably due to the Ecosport bringing in tons of footfalls into the showroom. Very likely that those who didn't like the Ecosport (its price, its waiting list or maybe the car itself) went for the new (or old) Fiesta.

[pyrodrive]

Originally Posted by vipinendran

Great analysis GTO, Sad to see the city falling by 98%, maybe the amaze has eaten into it! Sad to see such a good car do so badly !

City has fallen only because production has stopped. Stocks are running out and dealers are not taking bookings.
A colleague of mine having decided on the city SMT had to come back after booking an amaze. Hope the new city comes up soon.

[misquitas]

Originally Posted by GTO

Maruti's cars occupy the top 4 places on the best-selling chart, as well as 6 of the top 10. Overall sales are the highest since March 2013.

It is certainly a commendable achievement for Maruti to remain on top for such a long time, despite very capable rivals.

Originally Posted by GTO

However, the Eeco & Ritz remain mediocre performers, despite Maruti's powerful brand & dealer support.

I am truly dismayed that the a wonderful hatch like the Ritz simply cannot win over more customers, despite having capable petrol and diesel options. When will Maruti realize that a botched up 'rear' has made the sales 'rare'.

Originally Posted by GTO

The company has wisely started to trim its range and remove the duds. The Estilo is being discontinued and the A-Star is expected to follow.

I guess the funeral arrangements for the Estilo (542) and A-Star (448) have begun. These cars always struggled to find customers and there is no point in retaining these two cars in their original design.

However, I feel that the A-Star could rake in better sales if the body is stretched wider and marketed as a wide-bodied budget hatch. Right now, almost all of Maruti sub-Rs 4.5 lakh hatches (Alto800, Alto k10, Estilo, Wagon R) are narrow cars with limited cabin width. Using the same K10 engine and widen the body to provide more spacious/roomier low-bodied (better stability) cabin and boot space could work wonders for the A-Star and possible transform it into A Star. Remember the original Zen? It was a superb low and wider-bodied car that the present budget hatches.

Originally Posted by GTO

October 2013 was the 3rd best month in the recent history of Hyundai India, and the largest volume it has seen since Feb-Mar 2012. It's all down to the Grand i10 (petrol outselling diesel, by the way).

The Grand i10 is truly the success story of Hyundai, unlike the Eon which has never lived up to expectations. I wont be surprised if this superb VFM packaged Grand i10 bags the COTY award, quite like its sibling in 2007.

Originally Posted by a4anurag

The German giants don't share the sales figures. I don't know why they keep it secret when the rest share. Yet to know the reason.

Trust me, if you want to know the secrets of the German giants, you may consider contacting the NSA of the USA. Then, please pass on the details to GTO and he will updated the sales figures.

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Honda is doing a stellar job with the Amaze. They ramped up production and close to 10,000 in October means they are on their way to give Maruti sleepless nights with the Dzire.

The Amaze is moving up the ladder and is becoming a worthy alternative to the Dzire. I reckon the Amaze could easily have overtaken the Dzire, if only Honda had half the number of Maruti's sales outlets.


That said, now for my little inputs on sales for this month:

* With the regular top-20 hits like Ritz and Santro falling out of the charts, there are now 12 non-hatch cars (Dzire, Bolero, Amaze, Ertiga, Omni, Innova, Scorpio, Ecosport, Duster, Verna, Indigo and Eeco) in the top-20 list. On the other hand, there are only 8 hatches (Alto, Swift, Wagon R, i10 Grand, Eon, i20, Indica and i10) in the top-20 list. Given the popularity of hatches, not many would have believed that there would be more non-hatch hits in the top-20 list by October 2013.

* I have noticed an interesting trend in Maruti's market share from January to April and from May to October this year. While the first four months gave Maruti a market share of mid-40's, the latter months (May to Oct) saw a reduction in Maruti's market share to the early 40's.

Consider Maruti's market share this year:
JAN: 44.75%
FEB: 45.71%
MAR: 44.25%
APR: 45.38%
---
MAY: 40.25%
JUN: 41.08%
JUL: 42.47%
AUG: 42.02%
SEP: 43.63%
OCT: 41.94%

* It is also interesting to note that the Mahindra Verito Vibe (521) has outsold its larger sibling, the Mahindra Verito (369). I wonder why? As some have suggested in other posts elsewhere, it makes more sense to go in for the larger Verito, given the discounts available with the Verito.

[HammerHead]

My observations:

• I thought Amaze would outsell Dzire however numbers tell different story.
  Hat's off to MS
• Strange to see how much time Hyundai is taking to replace ageing and already dead Accent.
• Eon eating up more of Santro then any of Maruti's! Similarly i10 Grand hitting i20 more than its primary target, the Swift.
• 49% of the diesels are driven by Fiat's engine!
• What's wrong with D1 segment? Not much takers these days.
  
• No competition for Fortuner yet.

[coolkurt]

@hammerhead

The Amaze is being held back only due to production constraints. Honda can only manufacture 10-12k cars as of now. I'm guessing it'll be good to see the numbers once their second plant gets operational.

The D1 segment is pretty much dead. Manufacturers need to entice and revive interest. No Civic. It's just the Octavia, Cruze and Altis. I'm hoping by next year, there'll be new models and we'll see a D segment resurgence.

[zenren]

Originally Posted by misquitas

I am truly dismayed that the a wonderful hatch like the Ritz simply cannot win over more customers, despite having capable petrol and diesel options. When will Maruti realize that a botched up 'rear' has made the sales 'rare'.

Unorthodox tachometer which looks like an aftermarket fitting is also a deterrent, especially among the older generation. I know a few people who discarded AStar and Ritz from their potential list for just this reason. Most of them were okay to compromise on the rear design if it was otherwise a good buy but when they saw the tacho, they said its difficult to compromise on something they'll actually see every time they get into the driver's seat. Quirky rear design is something that the car behind them will have to put up with but a quirky dash affects the driver. Most of them ended up buying i10/Wagon R in the end.

However, I feel that the A-Star could rake in better sales if the body is stretched wider and marketed as a wide-bodied budget hatch. Right now, almost all of Maruti sub-Rs 4.5 lakh hatches (Alto800, Alto k10, Estilo, Wagon R) are narrow cars with limited cabin width. Using the same K10 engine and widen the body to provide more spacious/roomier low-bodied (better stability) cabin and boot space could work wonders for the A-Star and possible transform it into A Star. Remember the original Zen? It was a superb low and wider-bodied car that the present budget hatches.

AFAIK, AStar is wider by 100mm at ~1600mm when compared to other budget cars from Maruti. Unfortunately, the wider car doesn't help anyone since the rear legroom wouldn't make the rear seats comfortable for 3 or even 2 passengers at the back.

It is also interesting to note that the Mahindra Verito Vibe (521) has outsold its larger sibling, the Mahindra Verito (369). I wonder why? As some have suggested in other posts elsewhere, it makes more sense to go in for the larger Verito, given the discounts available with the Verito.

Vibe doesn't have the taxi image that the Logan/Verito carries. That could be the reason for more private audience choosing Vibe over Verito.

If someone buys a Verito, the aunts of the neighborhood wouldn't say he bought a sedan. They'll say that he bought a taxi. Who would want that?

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by HammerHead

I thought Amaze would outsell Dzire however numbers tell different story.
Hat's off to MS

Actually Honda has it hands full with Amaze. They can only produce so much. Whether it has affected MSIL Dezire is a different story. These days multiple cars including hatch and sedans fight in the same segment and hence it is improper to say that any one car can cannibalize another one. The Amaze is probably taking off sales of all cars in that segment including its own Brio to its own Honda City.

[DragonRider]

Glad to see that the festive season didn't utterly disappoint the auto industry, despite the gloomy economic moods world over. Its been a rise of the Titans of sorts with the Scorpio surpassing 5k and the Safari/Storme back in the > 1K numbers (featuring in the top gainers for 2 months consecutively, wonder how much of this is the discounts/offers effect). Volkswagen seems to be losing interest in this market, they need to get in the Tiguan asap with maximum level of localisation as can be achieved. Ford need some other sellers as currently they have a single point of success/failure and that's not gonna be sustainable in the long run, same applies to Renault as well. One may wonder why Ford didn't plan to enhance their production capacity as its hard to believe that they would have completely missed to envisage the demand it would generate. Well its easier said than done, as Ford doesn't enjoy the economies of scale that Maruti or Hyundai enjoy, its too risky to invest a lot in infra if you've got a single 'star' vehicle in your kitty.

[jessie007]

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 some vehicles that 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.

Click on an image to enlarge / zoom:

[wilful]

Thanks for the wonderfully detailed analysis (as usual) GTO!

It's a pity that Toyota doesn't see it fit to have a better presence in the hatch and small sedan category than the Liva and Etios - to take on the likes of the Amaze, Swift etc. No offense meant but the Liva and Etios are just not refined enough for the present challenges in my opinion.

[GetLife]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

The Ertiga sure did shoot up. almost 3 times in a single month. Wonder what prompted such a big jump. Rare to see a car that is in market for so long to suddenly shoot up by so much.

I recently came across atleast 15 Ertigas empaneled into the office shuttle service by one of the providers in Bangalore. 3 times increase might be the result of adoption by commercial operators. Also the issues with Tavera might have just added to that as well.