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Old 14th January 2021, 17:45   #76
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Re: December 2020 : Indian Car Sales Figures & Analysis

Excellent performance by TATA. Their hard work is finally paying off. Kudos to them for being patient and working hard towards giving true-value(pun) to customers

Altroz iTurbo followed by DCT, Safari, upcoming HBX should further strengthen their position in the sales chart. And although EV sales currently are a tiny fraction of ICE cars, hope they continue to churn out more models and become the Maruti of EVs(undisputed champions) going forward.
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Old 14th January 2021, 19:47   #77
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Re: December 2020 : Indian Car Sales Figures & Analysis

Quote:
Originally Posted by Roadster17 View Post
It is so amazing to see the same old story being repeated month after month after month. This shows 3 things.

1st - There are manufacturers lie Kia, MG, Hyundai which are cut above others in their marketing skills.

2nd - There are manufacturers like VW, Skoda, Tata, Jeep, Ford which despite making better cars are poor in their marketing skills.

3rd - There are manufacturers like Nissan, Renault which have neither good cars, nor good marketing team.

* Editors note - Team bhp readers do not constitute any meaningful chunk of car buyers in India. Here we can fill up forums by mentioning poor build quality of Seltos, Poor driving dynamics of Hector, How well 2020 Harrier has evolved, Altroz having 5 stars, Jeep Compass being so good in build quality and ride and handling, Nexon having great road stability, Engine heating issues in Seltos.... The list wil go on.

People are and will buy cars which has good marketing teams. "Internet inside", " Badass SUV", "Brit Dynamics", Mood lighting, Air purifier, ....the list goes on and it will sell. Manufacturers will continue to dish out tin cans with DRLs and Sunroofs to people until there is a law in place which forces these manufacturers to prioritize safety over anything else. Till then there is no point analyzing month on month data. This is going to be same.
Its a challenge to understand the minds of the consumers and those who do, get to be successful. R Gopalakrishnan who was a top honcho in Hindustan Lever and then joined the Tata Group had once explained how his IIT professor was very cross with him for having left technology to become a marketing expert. He went on to explain how he convinced his prof that without good marketing even the best of tech would not sell, leaving the entire bunch of tech experts and innovators in the lurch.

The feature bundles that are selling today in the sub 10 lakh segment (60% of all cars are in this price bracket) are
1. Basic safety - 2 airbags + ABS/EBD is good enough
2. Great Looks - this is a MUST
3. Great Service with a strong perception of being inexpensive. Ford is cheaper than Maruti in the Figo/Aspire segment but its initial reputation refuses to leave it!
4. Good feature listing like climate control (Maruti pioneered this in the Swift way back in 2005), at least basic automatic options like AMT, rear parking sensors, alloys, bling (chrome!) etc
5. Good inner space. This is where Aspire/Figo lost the game and almost ALL Maruti cars win

The feature bundles which are selling in the 10-20 lakh price band are the above PLUS
1. Great safety that spells 6 airbags, ABS/EBD, NCAP Ratings - Tata/M&M talk about this extensively, Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS) - Hyundai/Kia talk about this touting that 65-75% of their cars are built of AHSS. We had a post where we saw that Ultra HSS was avoided by them in India whereas the ones exported had UHSS as well.
2. Comfort Features - Here the Koreans have spoilt us with features like ventilated seats, electrically adjustable seats, leatherette seats and connectivity features. Others would be Apple/Android connectivity, UV Cut Glass, Cruise Control, Great Music Systems whose brands are advertised openly like BOSE, JBL, Infinity etc
3. Cosmetic and feelgood features such as Panoramic Sunroof, Voice Command, Diamond Cut Alloys, Digital Meters, etc
4. Excellent power in engines. Most manufacturers today vie with each other to offer turbocharged petrol engines. Most people who buy cars in this price segment usually refer to their cars as the "BEAST"
5. The best of choices in automatic technologies. Dual Clutch systems, CVTs or 6 + speed TQs

Very important to note that ABILITIES (Not features) such as great steering, awesome handling, brilliant ride, terrific build etc are YET to be appreciated the way the aficionados would want them to be!
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Old 14th January 2021, 23:50   #78
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Re: December 2020 : Indian Car Sales Figures & Analysis

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Originally Posted by pavanmadhini View Post
Hector beats Innova 2 months in a row! Gloster and Endeavor pushing down Fortuner's market share in their segment.

Maybe time for Toyota to finally stop overinflating their prices.
For this and anyone else commenting on Toyota (how much ever you hate their pricing) there are 2 things to keep in mind a) They had a strike in their plant in Nov and Dec b) They were launching a Innova and Fortunner Facelifts so customers would have waited.

Wait and watch Jan sales, only Innova sales will probably be more than all MG models put together.
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Old 17th January 2021, 08:36   #79
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Re: December 2020 : Indian Car Sales Figures & Analysis

The charts could have a long composition from November / December 2021 for the Sub-4 mtr SUV and Compact SUVs, given the following :

Sub 4-mtr SUV
a) Nissan Magnite customer dispatch commenced in January 2021
b) Renault Kiger to launch shortly
c) Maruti Suzuki next generation Vitara Brezza to be launched in Q3
d) Citroen to launch a product in this segment by festival season this year


Compact SUV
a) Volkswagen Taigun expected to launch in Q2
b) Skoda Kushaq also expected to launch in Q2
c) MG ZS expected to launch in Q2/Q3
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Old 18th January 2021, 15:35   #80
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Re: December 2020 : Indian Car Sales Figures & Analysis

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Originally Posted by Roadster17 View Post
I belong to the other 10% idiots who think that Safety, build quality and driving experience comes before after sales service, resale value, wide spread of variants, 1,2,3 GNCAP stars, DCT in 5-15 lacs bracket, cars looking fresh from inside ( mood lighting does help).

And to your question of VW, Ford, Skoda not being even 1/10th of what Maruti gives. Agreed. Maruti gives much more than these stupid manufacturers. However, what VW,Skoda,Ford gives is a big bright smile when you take them on road with an assurance that the chance of you returning back safely is 10 times more than in an Maruti/Hyundai. I will take this 1/10th every day.

We can agree to disagree.
If you think a VW / Skoda are 'reliable', so be it, more power to you.

I personally have 250,000 Kms+ on Hyundais and now Kias, never, not once has a brake failed and I have always 'returned home', despite whatever doomsday prophecy you might have.

Happy motoring.

Last edited by Aditya : 18th January 2021 at 18:12. Reason: Personal comment deleted
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Old 18th January 2021, 17:09   #81
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Re: December 2020 : Indian Car Sales Figures & Analysis

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Originally Posted by Roadster17 View Post
I belong to the other 10% idiots who think that Safety, build quality and driving experience comes before after sales service, resale value, wide spread of variants, 1,2,3 GNCAP stars, DCT in 5-15 lacs bracket, cars looking fresh from inside ( mood lighting does help).

And to your question of VW, Ford, Skoda not being even 1/10th of what Maruti gives. Agreed. Maruti gives much more than these stupid manufacturers. However, what VW,Skoda,Ford gives is a big bright smile when you take them on road with an assurance that the chance of you returning back safely is 10 times more than in an Maruti/Hyundai. I will take this 1/10th every day.

We can agree to disagree.
Your chance of returning home safely is more probably because your VW or Skoda will break down long before you reach your destination, forcing you to Uber home and call the dealer, who'll quote a 2 week turnaround time for parts and ask you to pony up 20-30k to get your car running again. The safest car is the one that's always in the shop.
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Old 18th January 2021, 17:23   #82
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Re: December 2020 : Indian Car Sales Figures & Analysis

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Originally Posted by karanddd View Post
Your chance of returning home safely is more probably because your VW or Skoda will break down long before you reach your destination, forcing you to Uber home and call the dealer, who'll quote a 2 week turnaround time for parts and ask you to pony up 20-30k to get your car running again. The safest car is the one that's always in the shop.


Reminds me of Maruti`s India comes home in a Maruti Suzuki campaign. I had a '97 Esteem till about 6 years back, never broke down, not once.

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Old 18th January 2021, 17:50   #83
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Re: December 2020 : Indian Car Sales Figures & Analysis

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Originally Posted by Stribog View Post
If you think a VW / Skoda are 'reliable', so be it, more power to you.

I personally have 250,000 Kms+ on Hyundais and now Kias, never, not once has a brake failed and I have always 'returned home', despite whatever doomsday prophecy you might have.

Happy motoring.
Wish you more safe drive and good year ahead!

Quote:
Originally Posted by karanddd View Post
Your chance of returning home safely is more probably because your VW or Skoda will break down long before you reach your destination, forcing you to Uber home and call the dealer, who'll quote a 2 week turnaround time for parts and ask you to pony up 20-30k to get your car running again. The safest car is the one that's always in the shop.
See, I am already in a minority. People are talking about spare part availability, reliability over a million kms, dealer responses. That is where the learned people are. I have confessed I am from the group of minority who will take safety over reliability any-day.

P.S. I am ok, if my car needs to be serviced and I have to take an Uber. At least I know I made that choice of keeping myself safe for another drive on another day rather than being in a zero star car which will be super reliable. BTW, I have not been to service station for any other work apart from servicing and I don't see cars flooding the service station of VW/SKoda with 100' of car which went bad. With every VW/Skoda going for repair, I can start a car mechanic shop near their dealers. A good business idea.

We are relating past stories/ hear says with present situation which is very different for VW/Skoda. But as far as safety goes, it is same for Maruti and Hyundai even now. Nothing has changed apart from fitting mood lighting and air purifier.

I am sure everyone who is buying a Maruti or a Hyundai are not fools. Even I had a Maruti and drove it for 80000 kms before I moved to the stupid Germans. I know, the A, B segments where they are missing are served by Marutis and Hyundais. I was referring to the segment where you have the choice to choose a 5 star XUV300 and you choose a 3 Star Seltos. What I was trying to highlight is that its high time Maruti and Hyundai should start investing money in areas which improves the car safety rather than in blings despite the fact that these investments in engineering might not be evident to the buyers. But I forgot, I am not in a majority.

Last edited by Aditya : 19th January 2021 at 04:40. Reason: Quoted text edited
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