[srgntpepper]

Hi,

The Tiguan is listed as having sold only 3 units. Is it being discontinued or getting a midlife upgrade? I had enquired about it long time back, and am now calls from the local dealer offering 3-4lac INR in discounts.

If being upgraded in the very near future, I might decide to wait. Or bargain harder.

Thanks

[Subby]

Hyundai Santro monthly sales number are satisfactory but nothing exciting, considering the Santro and Hyundai brand names. And this was somewhat expected. Unless a newly introduced car has definite individual character or perceivable edge over competition, it often settles with average numbers, respective to that category. New Santro has nothing to say great about except few new features here and there!

Maruti sales numbers are quire boring (in positive sense!), almost no change from month to month. Only Ignis is not doing justice to the volume.

Ford Freestyle replaced Ford Figo unofficially! For other models they need more marketing effort. EcoSport sales are steady.

Toyota is happy with Innova and Fortuner; anyway, their cash box is ringing!

I wonder who are those committed petrol-heads, still buying Fiat cars! Salute to them!

[2000rpm]

Originally Posted by Subby

Hyundai Santro monthly sales number are satisfactory but nothing exciting, considering the Santro and Hyundai brand names. And this was somewhat expected. Unless a newly introduced car has definite individual character or perceivable edge over competition, it often settles with average numbers, respective to that category. New Santro has nothing to say great about except few new features here and there!

I found Santro to be the most boring launch of the year. The car is so boring that I havent even checkout the car in person inspite of multiple demos in malls and offices which I visit very regularly.

[redCherry]

Originally Posted by Subby

I wonder who are those committed petrol-heads, still buying Fiat cars! Salute to them!

....That should indicate what Fiat cars are made of
I am planning to be one of those, despite all the talks of Fiat shutting shop here.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by ACM

People still buy the Xylo?

Atleast in Madras, Xylo alongside Sumo seems to be the weapon of choice for office cabs. I see many everyday I commute.

[NFS2024]

Am looking at these numbers from a different perspective. Am on the lookout for a new car (either a compact SUV or a premium hatchback). The only deterrent for me to go ahead is the impending BS VI.

When I look at the sales numbers of cars like the Brezza, Nexon, Ecosport (primarily diesel) and hatchbacks like Baleno, i20 etc., looks like there is an uptick in the numbers for these cars compared to Dec 18 or previous months.

Does it mean the buyers do not care about BS VI and that they would be much better off buying BS IV cars at lower price points? or is it a case of the mass market not being aware of BS VI?

I was assuming that the sales numbers would be lower going forward in 2019.

[Nav-i-gator]

Originally Posted by 2000rpm

I found Santro to be the most boring launch of the year. The car is so boring that I havent even checkout the car in person inspite of multiple demos in malls and offices which I visit very regularly.

Maybe you should check it out once. I agree with you on the boring part, looking at the exterior looks only. I casually checked it once last month, just to kill time while I was waiting for the SA to share final pricing for Verna. Was pleasantly surprised by the interiors - quality, fit and finish, looks and features will surprise you (esp if you compare it with interiors of Maruti cars from the same segment).

[Carma2017]

I am a proud owner of i10 grand. Santro is an abomination in my opinion that does not befit Hyundai. It would be a superb Maruti or Datsun car. But Hyundai has raised the bar of expectations to such an extent that Santro seems like a Ford Figo new gen. I apologise sincerely since I willl be hurting some feelings.

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by Inder7

What could be the reason for allowing themselves to be pushed out of an entire segment ??

Hyundai was never in that segment, they arent still considered a premium OEM, a few examples:
Tuscon
Santa Fe
Sonata
Elantra

They knew it wouldn't sell at that price but needed a placeholder, which is nothing but a portfolio strategy.

Originally Posted by srgntpepper

The Tiguan is listed as having sold only 3 units. Is it being discontinued or getting a midlife upgrade?

It faces a lot of heat from above (Kodiaq, Endeavour, Fortuner) and below (Compass, Creta, XUV etc) all of which offer similar performance and real estate if not more.
Discounts are due to the stocks at the dealership/plant.

Originally Posted by redCherry

....That should indicate what Fiat cars are made of
I am planning to be one of those, despite all the talks of Fiat shutting shop here.

Absolutely, as a famous Mr.Devgn says "Shaukh badi cheez hai..!!"

Having said that, service isnt an issue across many cities and the cars still pull enthusiasts towards them.

What are you buying? Abarth?

Originally Posted by narayans80

Atleast in Madras, Xylo alongside Sumo seems to be the weapon of choice for office cabs.

As it is in the NCR, the D2 was squarely positioned against the Sumo and it was able to overtake it too.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by Inder7

Has Hyundai given up on Tucson or they find themselves in a catch 22 and don't wish to disturb the Creta party by lowering Tucson price. What could be the reason for allowing themselves to be pushed out of an entire segment ??

Segment is something which Hyundai has not been able to crack, but product wise and especially after you have driven it, you really expect it to be priced closer to the Creta? Its built beautifully, the design has grace, quality is good (being a CBU I assume) and it has close to 200 BHP on tap.

It has nothing to do with Tucson but Hyundai, where customer doesn't want to spend over 20 on the slanted H. If you happen to drive one over varied surface and gun it, you would start appreciating it. Being a Hyundai, parts, service should be relatively cheaper and easier to source. Drawback is the brand.

[Inder7]

Originally Posted by n.devdath

Hyundai was never in that segment, they arent still considered a premium OEM, a few examples:
Tuscon
Santa Fe
Sonata
Elantra

They knew it wouldn't sell at that price but needed a placeholder, which is nothing but a portfolio strategy.

I would seriously beg to differ. No global auto company will ever do that. The brand erosion would be unacceptable. Look at the facts. They introduced the Tuscon back in early 2017. This car is being manufactured in India which means a very significant investment in terms of assembly line, rigs, manpower etc. India is now among the top 10 auto markets on the planet. No self respecting auto major can afford to ignore it. If you look closer you will find Hyundai has made every effort to make this car attractive to the target customer. The Team BHP review in Apr 17 said and I quote "Sadly, we don't get the AWD option available on the international variants. Hyundai also seems to be pushing customers towards the automatic variants of the Tucson owing to the rise in demand for automatics in the country. So much so that the Manual variants of the Tucson are stripped down to bare basics and lose out on a bunch of features like automatic climate control, side and curtain airbags, ESC, front parking sensors, auto dimming IRVM, leather upholstery, chrome finishes, LED Headlamps and tail lamps, etc. Look at the top model (4WD Auto GLS) today and you will find each and every one of those features are now available, along with a panoramic sunroof to boot. Why would they do that to a place holder ?
So my earlier question remains : why is Hyundai not pushing it hard enough? We know its over priced for what it offers. Am I missing something here ?

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by Inder7

And now I see the sales numbers for Jan 19 and it makes me wonder... Has Hyundai given up on Tucson or they find themselves in a catch 22 and don't wish to disturb the Creta party by lowering Tucson price.

These aren't end sales, they are only factory dispatches to the dealerships. Granted that higher number of dispatches would indicate strong demand, but at the same time it isn't necessary that one month of low dispatches would mean falling sales (lower than average anyway). I'd also stress that demand is entirely a creation of the market, one can go to town with product placement, pricing, discounts, features, advertisements etc, but at the end the product either succeeds with none of it, or fails with all of it. Its how business works.

Originally Posted by Inder7

Look at the facts. They introduced the Tuscon back in early 2017. This car is being manufactured in India which means a very significant investment in terms of assembly line, rigs, manpower etc. India is now among the top 10 auto markets on the planet. No self respecting auto major can afford to ignore it.

Hyundai introduced the Tucson, after the Terracan way back in 2007 or so.. I remember because when we went to the showroom to pick up a pre-owned Santro, a family had come there to pick up the Tucson and champagne was popped at that time, as a teen that was quite a sight to behold and aspire for. You're right that the product hasn't quite clicked.. but as a businessman with substantial marketing experience I feel that India isn't a nation which is entirely logical in making its purchase decisions, I know because I've marketed products that are 10x the quality of local manufacturing, at 3x the price, and YET at the end of the day people miss the point by a hundred miles. In India, if it works, it JUST works.. its a permutation combination that can be achieved only by fluke. As far as the segment of mini-SUV's go, off the top of my head these can be the possible scenario :

* Aspirational purchase - want to stretch to a Tucson but discovers that the Creta gives 70% of the Tucson at a lower price and lower ownership costs, down goes the sale. These are the upper-middle class buyers.

* Brand value - technically and in terms of expertise, Hyundai has as much if not much more than VW (all their production+design leadership/technical chiefs are German/Italian), but because it is a younger brand, badge snobbery comes into play and people buy a VW Tiguan or will even stretch to a Skoda Kodiaq. Yeti which is half a size smaller than Tucson sold for the same price until it was discontinued. These are the upper-class buyers and down goes the sale again.

* Value seekers - no matter how much the Tucson may give the buyer extra in terms of the smaller details like quality of plastics, design, kit, the build etc, the value buyers can cut it out the list with a simple statement - the Hexa/XUV 500/Safari gives more bang for buck. True enough, but product-wise the Tucson is a Tucson but it will be dropped because of lesser value proposition.

At the end of the day, I guess there is absolutely no point in discussing why a product doesn't sell or why it sells by the millions. All we can do it vote for our choice by buying a product which fits our preferences, needs and budget. Personally I always buy a product that sells low, most of the hidden gems are in the low-seller categories.

[King_pin09]

Nicely compiled information there, thanks for sharing. It seems to be a good month for most automobile manufacturers except for a few who fell down dramatically, whilst few hardly managed to sustain identical sales as of previous months.

The Ciaz numbers falling below 3000 units says a lot about our market sentiments towards lazy cars. If fuel efficiency and reliability are on one side of the product priorities, we have strong build, safety and powerful performance on the other side. For Ciaz, MSIL seems to have lost the balance by prioritising the first side alone. With KIA and Morris Garage fully geared up to enter India, many more products are expected in this sensitive segment that can better the Ciaz in every which way. MSIL has to restructure its product policy before others grab up the pie. For other cars from MSIL camp it’s just another usual month.

Jeep Compass seems to be stuck at around 1200 units; I would expect Jeep to take aggressive marketing campaigns to increase the sales from now on. On the brighter side, the numbers does not seem to fall further from here, which should give some respite / breathing space to FCA India. For the wonderful cars they make, I for sure want them to stay and grow here in India.

The sales figure of mere 1300 units in its very first month indicates that Kicks perhaps is struggling to kick-start its innings in India. The initial numbers does not seem very encouraging and Nissan has to realign its marketing strategies to grab the market attention. Nissan has high stakes riding on this machine and I would not be surprised if Nissan decides to wrap up, if Kicks fail to click.

Their party times at Honda, Mahindra, Hyundai and Ford camps, as the City, Bolero, Scorpio, Verna and Ecosport have registered phenomenal MoM growth.

[Inder7]

Originally Posted by Sheel

especially after you have driven it,[i] you really expect it to be priced closer to the Creta?

No, I meant its too close to cars in a size bracket above.My research over the past month shows (for top models) that Tucson :
a) costs the same as Endeavour
b) 1 lakh more than Tiguan (after discounts)
c) 4 lakhs over the Compass (after discounts)
d) Difference from Fortuner is just 1.5 Lakhs

Hyundai is the only one with no discounts. Your comment

Its built beautifully, the design has grace, quality is good (being a CBU I assume) and it has close to 200 BHP on tap

..holds true for all of them and they actually offer more. I partially agree with you on the brand- all the more reason why Hyundai should be more flexible, especially with sales where they are.

[amohan78]

The numbers are placed so lucidly and yet the crunching is a mine field for data analytics. Thanks for sharing.

I have been following this thread to understand how is Ford looking to sell its Freestyle and Aspire cars given that they have tried every strategy from the Facelift to a better mill to a better NVH ? The fact that Aspire does not even feature in the minds of people who are buying Dzire in plenty baffles me. The Diesel mill of DZire is far inferior than Aspire or Freestyle.

Ford has a long way to go in terms of eating even a fractional minuscule pie of Swift by Freestyle and Dzire by Aspire.

The one thing I think could be introduced in this sales analytics is City Wise breakup or Region Wise breakup. My request to GTO sir and Moderators on this matter if the raw data is readily available.

India being a vast country, I think this region or city wise dimension will bring a lot of insights in terms consumer purchasing power, road conditions , traffic drive ability etc.