[dark.knight]

Glad to see that Verna is off to a good start, its a competent, honest product at the end of the day and bang for buck is best in segment. Having driven it, it truly feels like a car one segment up and while it lacks the flash and jazzy interiors of its previous generation, this one truly ticks all the boxes when it comes to driving, comfort and space.. a bit bland but simplicity is infinitely preferable to complexity in general, we all know how the public bashed earlier Hyundais for being overly styled and swoopy don't we?

Nothing short of an average of 4k p.m will do for this effort. That apart I think the sales stories are getting rather boring these days.

One interesting point to note though.. the consistency of each brand's performance is perplexing, same numbers (almost) month on month and shocking, year on year save for minor variations of 5-10% up or down. Does that mean that each month there are exactly ONLY so many buyers who prefer that brand? Or does this have something to do with number of sales points in India and dispatching standard numbers to dealers? America's numbers have some change YoY in terms of brand preferences but Indian choices remain literally unchanged. I keep asking myself that why Fiat finds ONLY under 1000 buyers p.m, and VW only under 5000-6000 p.m? Why not a sharper jump in their sales? The only exception is India's desire for DZire.. one month 15-20k the next month 30k, again is this to do with dealer festival season stocking which would result in a drop next month?

[RaghuVis]

What an amazing month for Dzire and MSIL! Expected Dzire to set the chart on fire in June/July dispatches. But they have more than made up that in August.If you take Dzire as a standalone offering, then it stands third in manufacturers chart. Amazing.

Am trying to understand this cat and mouse game played by MSIL and Hyundai just in terms of numbers.
Till a couple of years ago, Hyundai was growing exponentially and everyone thought they might give a real fight to MSIL in terms of number game somewhere down the years. But then they did not invest in a new manufacturing unit and slowly their existing production capacity began to get utilized to its capacity. With close to 47K units dispatched last month, am sure we are looking at close to 90% production. So the maximum they can stretch is for close to 50K. This number is nothing for MSIL as their new production plant is not even at 30% utilization. Once that is in full flow, we can expect close to a quarter million cars or at least 200000 cars dispatched every month! Surely that is going to take some time but am sure they will reach there. Hyundai on the other hand is trying to play smart and bring in KIA to India. With huge investments to the tune of 12000 crores, they are looking to take the fight head on with MSIL. The first car from KIA is expected to be out by 2019/2020, around the same time MSIL is going to attain full production on their new plant. with KIA catering to budget and semi premium offerings, expect Hyundai to jack up their line with premium products and we very well know people trust Hyundai in terms of Premium badging. Now MSIL is all too smart in this game and they are already enjoying success with NEXA. With NEXA selling third most number of cars in numbers, It is safe to say their gamble of fooling people with the perception of premium has really paid off. With growing NEXA outlets,re-branding existing showrooms, future line-ups, MSIL is thumping ahead. We might even see NEXA outselling Hyundai in an year or so.

The only loss with Hyundai that I see is that they are currently way too behind MSIL and there might be a perception that Hyundai cannot take the fight to finish line. Comments from CEO also doesn't help them. As a consumer, we stand to benefit the most when we have stiff competition. Monopoly is never good and that is where I think Hyundai offered a rare glimpse of hope. it might not be fully wrong to say that MSIL cars are getting better because of Hyundai offerings! It would be sad if Hyundai wishes to abandon the game now.

[abhishek46]

Originally Posted by neoonwheels

Good point but then look at it this way that with only around 50 dealerships across the Nation, Jeep managed to sell 2K units as compared to 10K of Creta which has nationwide coverage.

I dont know from which pie that 2K Compass number came. We dont get to see city wise sales which would have given some picture if Compass has affected Creta numbers (Talking about Creta Since Compass was compared with it since some months here) in metro cities.

We should wait for 3-4 months to get a proper view of the sales. It has to be seen if the sales figure remain good, after the initial euphoria.

The 15-25 Lakhs market has much more potential in India as the wealth & aspirations of Indians is growing. The 'PIE' is not a finite one, in India perspective. And SUVs are the biggest beneficiaries of this ever increasing PIE.

The Compass, XUV, Hexa, Innova, Fortuner are selling roughly 13-15,000 units combined together, whereas in the same price range the a paltry 1000 units of sedans are sold (Corolla, Jetta, Octavia, Elantra).

In India, the preference for SUV body styles (contributed due to poor infrastructure and 'bigger is better' thinking) is driving the sales completely towards the SUVs.

[srh]

We need to wait to get a clearer picture on MSIL sales for the following reasons:

1 GST related de-stocking in earlier quarter may still not have been remedied
2 New plant in Gujarat adds to capacity. These inflated numbers may be towards reducing wait times and will thus normalize as the wait times reduce
3 They might be stuffing the channel for the oncoming festive season

Points 1 & 3 may also apply to other OEMs

[rsidd]

I'm very curious what fraction of the Dzires went to the taxi market. The number of Tours would be suggestive, but non-Tour DZires seem popular as taxis too. The boom in app-based cabs, plus the decline of Indica/Indigo, could be a factor in the high Dzire numbers.

[wilful]

Originally Posted by rsidd

I'm very curious what fraction of the Dzires went to the taxi market. The number of Tours would be suggestive, but non-Tour DZires seem popular as taxis too. The boom in app-based cabs, plus the decline of Indica/Indigo, could be a factor in the high Dzire numbers.

Actually this is a point that struck me as well. I see that a huge percentage of Ubers in town here comprises of Dzires. One in every two I would guess (or maybe more). I presume there is no way to pull out figures of Tour (Dzires)?

[sandeepmohan]

Did a lot of folks win the jackpot? 300k cars on the road in a month! This is getting scary. Not that it isn't a giant mess already, the government seriously needs to think of improving our public transport system. I don't think there is any room left to build roads in our cities.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Did a lot of folks win the jackpot? 300k cars on the road in a month! This is getting scary.

Many are rushing to buy their cars before the GST cess, which is likely to be announced by next month.

If so - probably we should have a comparatively dull festive season this year.

[rohansachar]

Good month in a lot of ways.
- I'm glad Endeavour has picked up volumes. Ditto for Hexa.
- FCA on the path to recovery with ONE JEEP. Imagine a bigger portfolio.
- Tata Motors finally getting what they deserve. High time people started trusting the brand & giving it a chance.

I wanted to do a little digging & figure month-on-month difference in buying pattern in OEM by region growth. The numbers are quiet don't paint a clear picture unless you go into every region specifically:

OVERALL:

- We sure do love them Japs
- With the launch of Kia, maybe the Korean side will get additional weight-age to the currently lonely Hyundai
- Americans seem to be loosing the battle, but they haven't given up on the war, the two major volume pushers will be incremental Jeep portfolio & the new EcoSport
- Europeans, while doing better than before still can't get the formula for the mass market

AMERICAN:

- Bye bye GM
- It'll be interesting to see how much boost can get get with additional Jeeps & the newer Ford portfolio

EUROPEAN:

- Kwid was the booster for these bunch, not much else was ever intended to be a volume driver, I HOPE

INDIAN:

- Tides are changing with Tata Motors FINALLY strengthening its SUV portfolio
- Mahindra isn't able to crack what Tata Motors has i.e. Passenger Vehicles(Sedans, Compacts & Hatch)

JAPANESE:

- While WRV did give Honda a boost, don't know how long can that drive them against the giant Suzuki
- Toyota has a TERRIBLE market strategy, all eggs in one basket i.e. Innova Crysta. ONE MISTAKE can make it a small dot in the graph with Fortuner driving 1k per month

KOREAN = Hyundai


PS:
- I've taken Jeep as American despite it being part of FCA, since the parent company might be European, their cars are pure American muscle.
- Renault-Nissan-Datsun taken considering their country of origin

[Col Mehta]

Solid analysis, once again. Thanks for sharing. A few highlights for me -

1. 30K+ Dzire unites in a month! Unbelievable! Maruti sure is on a roll. Seven out of top ten selling models are from Maruti stable, no surprises here though. Other three Hyundai offerings are going strong too. With a market share of 52%, Hyundai being number two with 16%, it is hard for any other player in the market to touch Maruti for a long time.

2. Speaking of Maruti, what happened to S-Cross?? From 2,895 units last month to 48 units. Fall of 98% MoM . That is super bad! Anyone knows why?

3. 4,779 units of new Verna. Going strong .

4. No sales for three consecutive months for HM-Mitsubishi! Wonder what they are up to.

5. With less than 1% market share, not sure what Nissan, Fiat and Skoda are doing in the market. Though Fiat must be happy with the initial response Jeep Compass has received.

[arvind71181]

Originally Posted by Col Mehta

2. Speaking of Maruti, what happened to S-Cross?? From 2,895 units last month to 48 units. Fall of 98% MoM . That is super bad! Anyone knows why?

This is due to the upcoming face lift for the S-Cross later this month

[cediaowner]

Majority of S-Cross buyers are enthusiasts hence they are well updated with the latest upcoming launches which might explain the sales figures. But with a new upcoming model and dealers looking to clear their inventory one can get great discounts !

[Col Mehta]

Originally Posted by arvind71181

This is due to the upcoming face lift for the S-Cross later this month

Yes, that's right. Didn't realize. Though I still can't get my head around on this because 98% fall is really-really huge, particularly for Maruti's standards. 1.6 engine getting discontinued in India might have also added to its woes.

[rambo1o1]

Great to see the xuv500 in the monthly top gainers chart. I'm glad I contributed to this

30% increase in sales is a good sign due to it being the oldest of the lot plus increased competition from the Jeep.
Have to see the Sales figures post increase in GST cess.

A big disappointment but not unexpected is the performance of the Figo twins. Ford really needs an engine ( petrol) , features and interior upgrade ASAP. The petrol figo disappointed us especially with the dull engine and claustrophobic interiors, hope Ford brings the facelift soon. The 30 lakh endeavor outsells the Figo!!

Happy that the endeavor has reached the 4 digit sales figure, hope it can be sustained and even increased by adding longer warranty and increase in small features without any further Price increase.

[Ashdel]

Out of 14,396 Vitara sold in August, 1 belongs to me

Made Zdi part of my family on 30th August