Re: December 2014 : Indian Car Sales Figures & Analysis The honeymoon period for the Indian Auto industry in terms of sales, is now over. In what was the last month of reaping the most benefits due to the excise duty cut, which incidentally was the last month of the year as well, sales surged for the domestic market leaders, but not much so for the laggards, some of whom posted a surprising negative sales percentage as compared to last year figures. Chevrolet: The slump continues for the General Motors brand. The Beat continues to be their best performer but in terms of segment sales, is nothing much to write home about. The facelift due this year should bring about a boost in sales. The Sail twins have disappointed, and the Cruze needs a major makeover badly. The biggest slump is seen in the Tavera's sales (over 50%). Overall, not a year which Chevy would be proud of. Fiat: The Evo makeover did bring a brief spark to the Punto's sales, but that gradually died down. Same went for the Linea, and now the Avventura finds itself in the same doldrums. Hopefully 2015 should bring about some cheer for Fiat, since they have some big launches lined up throughout the year (read "Abarth"!). Ford: The EcoSport continues it's lone-warrior run for the American giant, although it suffers a loss of over 40% in sales compared to the figures a few months back. Ford must not be complaining, since they are minting money through exports. The Figo must have seen it's absolute lowest numbers this month, which is a big indication about the next-gen (Ka) facelift being right around the corner. The Fiesta, despite being an excellent all-rounder, is still pathetic in sales. The Classic has had it's run - the upcoming Ka sedan should fill up it's shoes nicely. The big ole' Endeavour is in line for a new generation as well. HM-Mitsubishi: Even the oxygen tank is failing now. Amidst rampant speculations about Mitsu's future including new SUV launches, a hatch (Mirage) launch, etc., nothing looks concrete for the company which was once known for it's hot, exciting offerings in the Indian market. Honda: Wonderful numbers completes a stupendous year for the Japanese auto giant. The wonderful 1.5L i-DTEC and some stupendous offerings have seen them clock over 1 lakh sales in a calendar year for the first time ever in India, which was driven by the all-new City, the Mobilio and the Amaze numbers. Sudden dried up interest in the Mobilio should be a cause for worry for the Honda head honchos though - no doubt the VFM Ertiga and the immensely practical Innova are snatching the numbers here. With the Jazz lined up for 2015 alongwith a few facelifts, it promises to be a time for more growth in the future. Hyundai: Another car major who has grown from strength to strength throughout the year, Hyundai finishes 2014 with a record 4.10 lakh sales! The Elite i20, despite being a premium product, has hit the bullseye with the Indian customer. Between that and the Grand i10, Hyundai has found 2 contenders who are beating the Maruti Swift with their composite sales, and that says a LOT! The Eon and the XCent continue to provide superb figures, and with the Verna facelift, the i20 Cross and the ix25 SUV coming up in 2015, it promises to be another great year for the Korean manufacturer at the sales office. Mahindra: The home-grown auto giant has had a wonderful 2014 as well. The Bolero continued to be it's bestseller, while the Scorpio and the XUV 500 have been leaders in their segments as well. With a slew of small/big SUV/MUV launches lined up for 2015, it could very well be M&M's best year yet, when it has a great chance of cementing the #3 spot in the Indian Auto market. Maruti: They say competition brings out the best in you, and no better example of this than Maruti-Suzuki. Clocking almost 1 lakh sales month-after-month is no mean feat, let me tell you. No less than FOUR segment leaders in it's lineup drive the company's sales, and they show no signs of relenting anytime soon. With a very competent 800cc 2-cylinder diesel coming up in the future to power the Celerio and the WagonR, MSIL could very well notch up over 1 lakh sales on a monthly basis throughout 2015, and that won't be surprising. Just imagine what kind of response a Celerio/WagonR diesel AMT might create! Nissan/Datsun: Lack of dealership numbers and atrocious after-sales are showing in the Nissan numbers. The Go had a good start but has tapered down in recent times, and the Go+ has only just teed off it's innings from this month onwards. The Micra & the Sunny have lost favor with the Indian customer, despite being immense VFM offerings in their respective segments. The Terrano is holding it's own in it's segment, but definitely the Duster & the Scorpio are proving to be too hot to handle. Nissan needs a bit of re-thinking in their Indian strategy, specially for 2015.
Renault: The French automaker is still riding the one-horse pony, called the Duster. The Pulse & the Scala find themselves sharing the same fate as their Jap cousins, and the Fluence is faring very poorly in the D1 segment. Renault is all set to grab a chunk of the MPV pie with it's soon-to-be-launched VFM offering Lodgy, which might bring a bit more cheer to their camp. Skoda: The Rapid facelift enjoys it's good run, but the rest of the Czech pack is actually poor in their sales' marks. The Octavia, despite being a superb segment offering, is getting whipped. Same goes for the Superb. Will the Yeti facelift bring a smile on Skoda's dismal face? Only time will tell. Tata: The Indica/Indigo twins and their sedan siblings have enjoyed a great run upto their exit, and now the baton is passed to the Bolt/Zest and the upcoming Kite/Kite-sedan. Nano's numbers see an improvement after the Twist variants have been launched, and 2015 should see them swell a bit more. Same goes for the mighty Storme, which is in line for a much-needed facelift. The Aria is well and truly a sales dud, and now with MSIL's Mayank Pareek at the helm, Tata Motors would be hoping that the coming days would see a surge in sales under this great man's leadership. Toyota: The Innova continues to be a strong seller, and the Etios twins have seen a small surge in sales (no doubt due to TKM's rural strategy in the latter half of 2014). The Fortuner leads the pack in the D2-segment, while the Corolla has brought in some decent numbers as well. With the Fortuner & Innova facelifts launched in January, combined with their strategy of offering full safety features across all variants in their lineup, Toyota's numbers should see a worthy increase in the days to come. Volkswagen: It's been a mixed bag of sorts for the German auto giant. Where the Polo raked in the numbers due to it's fantastic facelift + TSI/TDI offerings, the Vento has gone down badly in it's segment, hurt in no mean terms by newer, better segment offerings. The Vento facelift might add some numbers to existing sales, but VW needs to go back to the drawing board for some serious re-thinking for it's marketing strategies. A recent announcement about bringing in more powerful, performance-oriented variants of it's bestseller, the Polo, is a great thing. Also, apart from Toyota, Volkswagen is the only other car major in India which provides complete safety features across all it's Polo variants.
The buzz around it's upcoming compact SUV offering (Taigun) is tremendous and there is some anticipation for the Vento CS as well - now it remains to be seen if VW will pull a bunny out of the hat with some seriously competitive, surprising launch prices for them.
Last edited by Aditya : 7th January 2015 at 11:59.
Reason: As requested
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