[blackwasp]

Recent entrant Kia, sold 21,021 units in the month of October, reducing the gap to 3rd placed Tata Motors (23,600 units) to just 2,579 units. With 56,600 cars sold in the last month, Hyundai too has posted good sales numbers.

While Kia reported a 64% YoY growth, Tata registered a growth of 79% and is placed at the number 3 spot while the former is in 4th position in terms of monthly sales.

Maruti has reported 1,63,300 units for the October month, with a MoM gain of 11% and a YoY increase of 18%. The Japanese carmaker commands a 49% share in the India new car market.

Hyundai and Kia have a combined market share of 22.1% with 77,621 units. While still far from the leader, the Korean duo could possibly compete with Maruti Suzuki with more product offerings.

Due to the Covid-19 lockdown, and an overall slow down in the auto industry, vehicle production in India has been on the lower side. But, this festive season, sales have improved and some manufacturers have shown good improvements.



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[pavanmadhini]

I've said this before in this forum - in the next 3-5 years, the average new car price point will move up and then Maruti's brand value will become it's liability. In parallel, Hyundai-Kia will definitely increase their market share to 30-35% in terms of sales volume, but in terms of revenue they'll cross Maruti for sure.

The new i20 itself might move add a percentage point or two to Hyundai's market share.

[sri_tesla]

Sooner or later Maruti's dominance on the Indian market will end and Hyundai/Kia duo has great chance of replacing it. India will move to electric vehicles rapidly in the next 4-5 years. Suzuki is not investing much in development of electric vehicles despite huge profits. They are not a forward thinking company.

On the other hand, Hyundai/Kia have lot of electric vehicles in their roadmap including Indian specific models. Tata also has proper roadmap of electric vehicles and even ahead of Hyundai/Kia in India in EVs.

[CEF_Beasts]

Some more key products from Kia (Fortuner/Endeavour Rival, Tucson Rival the Sportage) and Kia can take the game way ahead. With Hyundai bringing in the new i20 and if the Creta is anything to by its success then I expect the i20 to sell more than the elite i20! If it is one manufacturer who can take it to Maruti Suzuki it is the Hyundai-Kia group.

[Cessna182]

Hyundai and Kia are true made in India products. May not be as indigenous like Maruti or Tata, but they hired a lot of Indian engineers till last year.
The only reason I really wish Tata to retain its spot is because it is the only company that still focuses on safety instead of glass roofs and touchscreens. No Tata car has a brake failure issue that gets ignored by the parent company, like in the Seltos and Creta. Almost all Tata cars are NCAP rated for the Indian version, and don't report irrelevant ratings for international models like the Honda city.
Also, Kia/Hyundai cars are ridiculously expensive in India without a reason. Close to 20 lakhs for a top model Creta, which is a Nexon competitor? Even Nexon EV is cheaper.
Also, contrary to public perception, Tata is not the only company with a poor resale value. See how much the i20s and Vernas and Elantras are going for.

[MelvinPhilip]

Originally Posted by sri_tesla

Sooner or later Maruti's dominance on the Indian market will end and Hyundai/Kia duo has great chance of replacing it. India will move to electric vehicles rapidly in the next 4-5 years. Suzuki is not investing much in development of electric vehicles despite huge profits. They are not forward thinking company.

On the other hand, Hyundai/Kia have lot of electric vehicles in their roadmap including Indian specific models. Tata also has proper roadmap of electric vehicles and even ahead of Hyundai/Kia in India in EVs.

Yeah, big giants like L&T, Aditya Birla, Reliance, Denso have already started their manufacturing of EV chargers according to govt.'s order of prioritizing EVs, especially in the NCR within a time span of 4 years. This will bring down the costs of Lithium-Ion Batteries and will eventually encourage more manufacturers to bring their products to India ASAP. Also would like to appreciate the Govt.'s push towards EVs.

[searacer932]

Weren't MSIL having 53-54% market share few years back? Looks like that has reduced now and will reduce further if they continue to provide un-safe and unappealing products for India.

There was a hung and ho about NEXA cars being safe and premium but NEXA is just yet another sales channel. Hope MSIL wake up and start to give competent products for Indian market.

God bless competition :-)

[CEF_Beasts]

Originally Posted by Cessna182

Also, Kia/Hyundai cars are ridiculously expensive in India without a reason. Close to 20 lakhs for a top model Creta, which is a Nexon competitor? Even Nexon EV is cheaper.

The inflation is across all segment cars, today a Baleno costs 10L on road Mumbai, I had bought my EcoSport Titanium at 10L back in 2014 today the same variant costs 13-14L obviously few features have added but definitely they are not worth 3L. A Nexon top end diesel dual tone costs 15.26L on road in Mumbai. If the Creta was also priced similarly then what is the difference between a sub 4M pseudo SUV and a one greater than 4M.

Don’t get me wrong here I am in no way against Tata motors, I have massive respect for their safe cars across almost every segment right from the Tiago to the Harrier. For Tata’s safety initiative SafeCarsForIndia a big from me.

[warrioraks]

Maybe for first time in Maruti’s history, they are on the back foot. MSIL will continue to stay Number 1 for the fore-seeable future but pretty certain they will end up ceding some market share to Kia-Hyundai and Tata.

Maruti needs to go on the offensive in order to retain the market share. The deciding factor in my opinion will be - How well are they able to leverage their alliance with Toyota (and global product line of the behemoth) to position new launches in 10-30 lakh price bracket. Right now, it looks like a tough sell!

[ashis89]

Voted Yes.

In terms of volume, may not. In terms of profit, yes.

Hyundai and Kia have positioned themselves as 'premium' brands. And they're charging premium too which the buyer is willing to pay.

On the other hand, Maruti still enjoys the confidence of the first car buyer. They have the variety in small cars which is their advantage. But they're not willing to bring in good cars while market is increasingly turning towards 'safer' cars. Nor have they good presence in the 10+L segment.

[Abhi5868]

Voted YES!

The Koreans are already on their way to become the most valuable player in the market. Maybe they won't be able to match up with the astronomical numbers Maruti Suzuki enjoys, but their monopoly over the more profitable segments is surely gonna stay for a while.

Their existing customer experiences is a mixed bag. I as a customer won't be going back to the Hyundai-Kia sisters for the foreseeable future, yet I'd like to think positive for them. Hope this success doesn't get inside their heads. Because at the end of the day they ain't no MS.

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[GRAND23]

I started this (Can Hyundai / Kia become the no.1 car manufacturer of India?)thread in the beginning of this year and even till date I believe Koreans are going to upset Suzuki for sure.

Although, I must say that this is not going to be easy for Koreans. Suzuki/Toyota will deliver tough fight. I mean really “tough”.

Koreans have advantage of wide range of cars, segment best features, variety of engines and affordable technologies in auto transmissions. Koreans are more proactive to market than reactive. Every car launch from Koreans has unique and segment best features. They have come long way in engine and handling departments too.

Indian market has now equal or more trust on Koreans as they use to have on Suzuki/Toyota.

[Nithesh_M]

Originally Posted by Cessna182

Also, Kia/Hyundai cars are ridiculously expensive in India without a reason. Close to 20 lakhs for a top model Creta, which is a Nexon competitor? Even Nexon EV is cheaper.

Err what? Since when is a sub 4m vehicle competing with a 4.3m vehicle segment?
Inadvertently you hit the point on the head though as to why a sub 4m product is hitting OTR pricing of 15+lakhs when cars a segment above can be had for the same money in around the same ballpark.

[krishnakarthik1]

I just wish the carnival was a bit smaller. It would have taken on the innova. That would have given them the confidence to being in the Telluride to take on the Fortuner.

[arjab]

The Koreans, from the time Hyundai launched the first generation Santro way back in the late nineties, to Kia at present, always took India and Indian customers very seriously and more often than not launched new products , first in India, followed by major global markets.

Technically too, the Korean products were superior to the Suzuki's, particularly in terms of fit and finish and NVH.
The Koreans were always at the forefront in introducing / bringing in new technology before Suzuki, ( remember the introduction of power steering in Santro 1st gen, Bharat - 2 Santro at the time when Maruti was lolling around with non-Bharat - 2 models, sunroof in i10, big hatch in the guise of Getz, premium hatch i20 etc).

Where the Koreans lost out are:
- Maruti's brand equity and Indian's blind love for its products
- Fuel efficiency from the small petrol engines. In fact all the Koreans' gasoline engines fall short of the Suzuki's , in terms of driveability, performance and overall fuel efficiency.
- Styling, which although purely subjective was sometimes too polarising for the masses. Styling can "sell" a car even if its deficient in other areas, (just ask Tata! )

However the gap is closing fast.
The latest Santro is pretty much efficient. Hyundai group's brand equity has risen much over the years in the eyes of Indian consumers.
And the Koreans have plugged almost all the gaps between them & Maruti as far as product portfolio is concerned, except two. A dirt cheap MUV (to rival EEco) & it'll be extremely difficult to develop that in today's cost structure because EEco is based on a 35 year old Suzuki van underpinnings, which in terms of cost has been fully amortised.
Second is an Ertiga killer. This possibly has a better chance given the better margins to play with.
Third: get Genesis. Create a separate distribution channel and take on the premium segment and OEM's head - on.

Actually it's high time an alternative OEM rattled Maruti's cages a bit.
The last time that was done was in 2015 when the KWID gave heeby-jeebies to Maruti's product planners and scared the living daylights out of them when the French car started selling upwards of 7000 and I think even for a short spell they just fell short of 10,000 units a month. For the Alto Sales Head it was akin to getting a major heart attack!

During its formative years, Maruti had enjoyed unprecedented pampering by the Government. Yes, they helped motorise India and all that fluff , but have they given the Indian customer the latest in automotive technology in time, over time? I think not.

About time that was corrected I think.