[achyu]

Originally Posted by Prafful_Rathod

Not really buddy, Wagon-R consistently used to sell more than Swift till 2010, after which Swift started selling more than 10K.

Yeah. Almost 6 years since it last happened - that is a LONG time. Like they say - out of sight, out of mind

[trinity0114]

Originally Posted by hybridpetrol

What happened all the Fiat lovers, who claimed they would be ready to sell their houses to buy Abarth Punto when it launches? Now it is launched, and it is super fast comparing to all hatchbacks in our country, but sales show absolutely no improvement. Yes, Fiat does not worry about sales, but buyers also not interested?

Pardon my ignorance, which 'Fiat lover' claimed that he/she would sell their houses to buy the Punto Abarth as & when it launches? Can you quote any such posts? The sales are so low because even the so called enthusiasts are buying crap called baleno

[hybridpetrol]

Originally Posted by trinity0114

Pardon my ignorance, which 'Fiat lover' claimed that he/she would sell their houses to buy the Punto Abarth as & when it launches? Can you quote any such posts? The sales are so low because even the so called enthusiasts are buying crap called baleno

You can just go and search for yourself in the Abarth thread how many people were so enthusiastic and so touchy about Fiat. Yes, nobody actually claimed that they would sell their house, but do you expect that someone actually makes such a serious claim?
I meant the exact same thing you have posted - A lot of people who like to drive fast cars drive sedate family cars, due to many reasons such as budget constraints, parking constraints, non availability of Fiat in their city etc.
If sales was the primary aim for Fiat, they would not launch Abarth branded niche cars, while their primary cars are already sinking.

[trinity0114]

Originally Posted by hybridpetrol

You can just go and search for yourself in the Abarth thread how many people were so enthusiastic and so touchy about Fiat. Yes, nobody actually claimed that they would sell their house, but do you expect that someone actually makes such a serious claim?
I meant the exact same thing you have posted - A lot of people who like to drive fast cars drive sedate family cars, due to many reasons such as budget constraints, parking constraints, non availability of Fiat in their city etc.

Everyone in that thread was elated was because it is for the first time that any manufacturer launched a product which the enthusiasts wanted & the one who dared to bring the product didnt really have a significant market share still they did what every petrol head was wishing. And if no one made such a claim, I suggest you should stop making the claims you were making earlier.

The reason why car makers like MSIL are doing good is because of the stereotypical mindset of the people & not because the other offerings in the market have shortcomings. I know of people whose thought process while buying a car starts with maruti & ends with maruti.

[Venku2015]

Great report there Aditya. Its quite evident that the Indian market is dominated by Japanese followed by the Koreans and reassures reliability over other origin manufacturers. I was really expecting Ford to shine with their Figo and Aspire but looks like the party is over for them.

The Creta took over the market by storme, dusters sales are nowhere in sight compared to its peers and that shows the market appreciates refinement, safety, features and better build quality.

[romeomidhun]

Originally Posted by trinity0114

The reason why car makers like MSIL are doing good is because of the stereotypical mindset of the people & not because the other offerings in the market have shortcomings. I know of people whose thought process while buying a car starts with maruti & ends with maruti.

That is the trust the Maruti brand has, in the Indian customers' mind. It is built over a long period of time. And not without any reason or related to people's mentality. The number of trouble free cars running around them, the service they provide at every here and there, the fuel efficiency... everything contribute to it.

[Aniruddha_Ch]

Maruti Suzuki- Baleno has cannibalised Swift, but Dzire is still holding its position at 18k, I don't understand Indians obsession towards boot (stubby boot). I feel even Baleno might be eating share of its elder sibling S- cross.

Hyundai- Grand I10 is only moving ahead irrespective of what comes in its way. I20 is not facing heat from Baleno. Creta numbers have declined by 2k, any guesses?

Ford- Figo and aspire deserves to get sell at that VFM price point.

Toyota- 23 units of landcruiser, that's some good numbers for crore and half rupee SUV. As usual corolla, innova and Fortuners are performing well. on other hand Etios and liva are struggling.

Fiat- I sincerely wish something could work in favour of Fiat.

[trinity0114]

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

That is the trust the Maruti brand has, in the Indian customers' mind. It is built over a long period of time. And not without any reason or related to people's mentality. The number of trouble free cars running around them, the service they provide at every here and there, the fuel efficiency... everything contribute to it.

Toyota cars are also running trouble free on Indian roads, their service perhaps as good as Maruti if not better. Real world fuel efficiency is comparable across most mass market brands & is no exclusive to Maruti & what trust are you talking about? When the swift miserably failed crash tests every newspaper was full of the results but no one cared even a bit about the damning report, Maruti showrooms were full of people which wanted to buy that death bed. This is not trust but ignorance & stupidity at its best

[Pam81]

Whether it is trust or "taking it for granted" of Indian customer, it shows that Maruti Suzuki understood the market very well. Though it is my personal opinion, I do think Maruti is not a true leader in automobiles. They are no. 1 in the market by sales but they are not no. 1 in terms of Automotive engineering & standards setting for the Industry. For sure, they have the credit of making some affordable car for our masses since its introduction. But with increasing emissions & pollution and increased road network, they could have acted more proactively to make motoring, a safe & efficient journey (including emissions, not just Fuel Economy). Even other players, who were giving nearly equivalent safety products for India, of course with added cost, learned from Maruti that the Indian market never values them and started removing those from their face lifts (Disc to Drum brakes in i20, Top trims only has safety features in earlier VW POLO). It is still a best car, because, we only see resale value, service costs and ultimately never value our own safety, oh yes! it's just personal. It is just the way we are!!!!

[romeomidhun]

Originally Posted by trinity0114

Toyota cars are also running trouble free on Indian roads, their service perhaps as good as Maruti if not better. Real world fuel efficiency is comparable across most mass market brands ...

That is the reason they are able to sell those Innovas.

How many models do Toyota sell in India in the mass market? With such a limited number of uninspiring models, are you expecting Toyota to outsell all others?

And we all know what a cheap looker Etios brothers are. Are you expecting these 2 to sell in 5 digits as it is a Toyota?

See how Kwid garnered 70K orders. See how Duster garnered market when it was launched. See how Hyundai fights with so many models.

First, bring proper cars to India, then complain about people's mentality.

[trinity0114]

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

That is the reason they are able to sell those Innovas.

How many models do Toyota sell in India in the mass market? With such a limited number of uninspiring models, are you expecting Toyota to outsell all others?

And we all know what a cheap looker Etios brothers are. Are you expecting these 2 to sell in 5 digits as it is a Toyota?

See how Kwid garnered 70K orders. See how Duster garnered market when it was launched. See how Hyundai fights with so many models.

First, bring proper cars to India, then complain about people's mentality.

Well the comment about the Toyota service or reliability was w.r.t to the trouble free nature of Maruti cars you had commented upon & not in anyway related to me being supporting/patronising the brand so please do not bring in that aspect. As it is I am not a fan of Toyota nor do I like what they sell here, its just that there are more brands other than Maruti which offer a good, wide service network & make as trouble free cars.

And I dont seem to find any 'proper' MSIL car to justify the sales which it manages, as I said there are more aspects than serivce, dealer network, portfolio & FE by which Maruti manages to do the numbers what they do.

[Karthik Chandra]

Originally Posted by trinity0114

As it is I am not a fan of Toyota nor do I like what they sell here, its just that there are more brands other than Maruti which offer a good, wide service network & make as trouble free cars.

And I dont seem to find any 'proper' MSIL car to justify the sales which it manages, as I said there are more aspects than serivce, dealer network, portfolio & FE by which Maruti manages to do the numbers what they do.

I'm sorry but I don't get your point :
there are more brands with better cars - agreed
good wide service network - the next best is Hyundai and is a long way away from MSIL
trouble free cars - not as trouble free and offering peace of mind as MSIL

We can't just dismiss the achievement saying herd mentality, there is a reason why the car sells. Maruti has constantly been in line with the pulse of the market - They saw the need for safety increase and offered in as options in base variants, they found there is a need for enthusiast cars, hence S Cross 1.6, probably a Baleno boosterjet.

It is plain simple for MSIL to be complacent, given their dominance in the industry the 2nd best is a long way below and will probably never catch up, but they aren't they keep updating - that's their success that makes people to look up the Maruti cars.

Why are you searching for a proper car from MSIL to justify its sales? Whats the point?

[SunilM]

Originally Posted by trinity0114

Pardon my ignorance, which 'Fiat lover' claimed that he/she would sell their houses to buy the Punto Abarth as & when it launches? Can you quote any such posts? The sales are so low because even the so called enthusiasts are buying crap called baleno

Forget the fans for a moment, Fiat has serious credibility crisis amongst the general population. If you are an old timer here, you will remember how fans said that if only Fiat moved out of TATA showrooms, its sales would sky-rocket, TATA salesmen are pushing Indica over Punto and so on. Then it was said a separate manufacturing plant instead of the shared one will improve quality and take care of Puntos rusting, parts falling off etc etc. Well, most of it was done, and the sales only went down from there, not up! Market wants bullet proof reliability and nice service. Fiat has has a long way to go on both.

Calling the choice people make for their cars as crap is naive. People are smarter than you think and they do a lot of research, seek advise, before they buy one of the most expensive possessions they will own.

[Pam81]

Originally Posted by Karthik Chandra

Maruti has constantly been in line with the pulse of the market - They saw the need for safety increase and offered in as options in base variants, they found there is a need for enthusiast cars, hence S Cross 1.6, probably a Baleno boosterjet.

Though it does seem finally Maruti also giving importance to Safety and not just Fuel Economy. But it really took a long, sweeeeeeet time! India is the worst country in road fatalities and lots of untrained drivers taking to the road. As a responsible company which has capitalized on compact cars for the mass market, it should have given proactive safety features even as option and let the buyers decide if they value their life or not. Question is, it was not even given as an option in their top selling entry level vehicles (ALTO, OMNI, WAGON R). And when NCAP tests shown Swift failing miserably, MSIL gave very casual statement which is neither acceptable nor fitting for a market leader.

sources:http://www.financialexpress.com/arti...ti-chief/7869/

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post3579873

That's why in my personal opinion, MSIL is not a true leader but only by sales because they took the market for granted!
Now, the people are more aware, do lots of research and make meaningful choices with known risks because there are choices in the market. Though there's no categorical evidence, but going by time of offering safety options, I would say MSIL is second or even latter when it comes to safety features.

[Karthik Chandra]

Originally Posted by Pam81

Though it does seem finally Maruti also giving importance to Safety and not just Fuel Economy. But it really took a long, sweeeeeeet time! India is the worst country in road fatalities and lots of untrained drivers taking to the road. As a responsible company which has capitalized on compact cars for the mass market, it should have given proactive safety features even as option and let the buyers decide if they value their life or not. Question is, it was not even given as an option in their top selling entry level vehicles (ALTO, OMNI, WAGON R). And when NCAP tests shown Swift failing miserably, MSIL gave very casual statement which is neither acceptable nor fitting for a market leader.

sources:http://www.financialexpress.com/arti...ti-chief/7869/

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post3579873

That's why in my personal opinion, MSIL is not a true leader but only by sales because they took the market for granted!
Now, the people are more aware, do lots of research and make meaningful choices with known risks because there are choices in the market. Though there's no categorical evidence, but going by time of offering safety options, I would say MSIL is second or even latter when it comes to safety features.

Agreed MSIL was late, but end of the day, the company is here to make profits. MSIL found the opportunity to push cars without safety features since the market was not that sensitive to safety and demanding until recently, you cannot blame it on MSIL alone.

There is a cost involved on everything, why would a company incur cost until it finds that the market is demanding? It is only very recently that we started accepting million rupee car from Maruti, forcing the manufacturer to think cost aspects earlier. Now that the customers are ready to pay that additional amount for safety, the company has started providing the same.

What needs to be appreciated is the reaction from MSIL, it is very easy to become complacent being the market leader having 48% share, but the company isn't. Now that it has given options lets not continue cribbing.

IMO better late than never