[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Happy Independence Day!

On this joyous occasion - calling out a trend noticed in the sales threads. We are buying more cars from domestic manufacturers (TATA & Mahindra) than ever before, and at significantly higher prices than ever before! In fact - there is a sharp trend seen post-Covid and currently stands at ~22% of market share.

We've had higher market shares more than a decade ago, contributed mainly by entry level cars from TATA and Mahindra (Indica & Bolero), but the recent trend is driven by far more upmarket products.

Combined sales of TATA and Mahindra over the past decade -



TATA Motors -

• Significant rise in sales numbers post-Covid. In fact, TATA Motors had more dispatches than Hyundai for two of the past months, and is giving Hyundai a good run for second place in marketshare.
• Nexon continues its blockbuster run. Although 5 years old in the market - it sold more than the updated rivals from Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai in recent months.
• Punch has become another blockbuster for TATA - selling 1 lakh units in just 10 months of launch.
• Not just about small cars - TATA has also overcome its old image factor - selling 4k - 5k units of the 20L+ Omega platform (Harrier + Safari) in the recent months.
• TATA Nexon EV is the best-selling electric car in India. Shares garage space in many premium households that would never have considered a TATA car before!

Mahindra -

• Mahindra is only constrained by their manufacturing capabilities. Their bookings backlog runs close to 1.5L bookings as of July 2022!
• XUV 7OO is a huge success with dispatches crossing 6k units per month, and order backlog still above 80000 bookings to be full-filled.
• Thar is nearing 20L on-road now and selling better than ever with ~3500 units per month and a backlog of 26000 bookings. For what is considered a niche product - it is selling better than many mainstream products for this price!
• ScorpioN bookings have run into six digits as well - and the Classic has returned for rural markets.
• Less dependency on the Bolero - although it still continues to bring in good rural numbers for Mahindra. The rumoured discontinuation of the Innova diesel might work in favour of the flopped Marazzo.

Has Covid lockdowns changed our buying preferences? Hopefully this is a long-term trend and TATA Motors continue to give Hyundai a close run for the second place.

Is it the dominance of SUVs that is helping the domestic manufacturers. Both TATA and Mahindra were always known for their rugged vehicles.

Or is it just that the Indian companies are finally bringing their A-game? Products like the XUV 7OO, Harrier, Nexon (ICE and EV), Scorpio N, etc have truly held their ground against the established foreign brands.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Indian Car Scene. Thanks for sharing!

Well written, Crazy Driver! With the onslaught of newer competition, Tata & Mahindra would've faced an existential crisis. A lot of MNCs entered (and exited) the Indian car market in the last 10 - 15 years. Important to consider that the MNCs develop cars for multiple countries, hence can play with a larger R&D budget.

If Tata & Mahindra didn't put on their "A game", they'd be finished. Complacency would've taken them down the same road as Premier Auto & Hindustan Motors. As a wise man once said though, there is no problem in the auto industry that a good car cannot solve. And Mahindra / Tata have not just one, but at least 5 - 6 good cars each. They're playing the game fiercely, churning out great cars and - as an added bonus - are topping the safety charts too. Thanks to all-rounded products, they are able to command premium prices too. Who would have imagined a successful 25-lakh rupee Mahindra or Tata car 10 - 12 years back? Now, they have waiting lists.

Well done & incredibly proud. Happy Independence Day to all!

[RavenAvi]

Cometh the hour, cometh the man!

Over the years, the competition kept growing tougher with newer, more sophisticated products being regularly introduced in the Indian market which made the existing Tata & Mahindra line-ups look dated. But look what that did? It only added to the steely resolve of both our homegrown auto manufacturers. They went back to their drawing boards, rolled out new visions and plans for their future and brought out brand-new, contemporary products which started their turnarounds. For this, both Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors deserve huge pats on their backs.

The Indian car buyer has evolved consciously and has changed his preferences. Safety became paramount in car-buying criteria in recent years and Tata Motors kickstarted this movement with it's excellent 5-star offerings, with Mahindra quickly following suit. And with that came added, cutting-edge tech into either company's modern day launches and that started to show in it's sales numbers. It has been a remarkable turnaround for both Indian auto manufacturers - more so because they started fresh and revamped their entire lineups to bring out newer, better, all rounder products for each section of the car buying public. Never-before seen mass market features are now offered in affordable segments which are definitely telling on the sales numbers. Now, Indian car manufacturers are not playing catch up anymore. In fact, the competition is now desperately trying to do some serious catching up to them!

May they continue to grow and prosper. Other companies are now sitting up and burning their midnight oils, which will in turn help bring out better products from them in the future, in turn. God bless competition!

Thank you, Crazy_Driver & GTO. Happy Independence day, Team BHP!

[pqr]

Happy Independence Day!



Tata Motors and Mahindra, combined, achieved the highest market share (23%) in 2005 and 2006. The rule is simple and same for everyone; get the ‘product’ and the ‘price’ (2P’s out of the 4P marketing model) right, and market share will grow. The opposite is also true.



Even one product (Nissan Magnite) can do wonders with a wafer-thin dealership network ('place' – of 4P marketing model). And sometimes an entire product portfolio cannot (Sunny, Micra and Terrano).

[SoumenD]

Kudos to TATA & Mahindra for putting their hearts out in developing great products. With the kind of reputation they had garnered(Taxi image of TATA for example) this wasn’t going to be an easy job. What’s commendable is they just didn’t try to copy market leaders like Ford tried with new gen Figo/Aspire(trying to copy swift/dzire), rather went ahead and created their own USP in safety standards.

Here’s a good case study on TATA Motor’s turnaround.

https://youtu.be/WP0X1R_z7yI

With global players leaving us one by one, its TATA & Mahindra I look forward to as my next upgrade as their products in 20-25L range are actually aspirational(as well as VFM) now. Who would have thought this 5-10 years ago

[shancz]

Happy Independence Day to all.
Excellent thread and aptly timed

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

1. Has Covid lockdowns changed our buying preferences?
2. Is it the dominance of SUVs that is helping the domestic manufacturers.
3. Or is it just that the Indian companies are finally bringing their A-game?

I would say all of the above, in a way

1. The lockdowns increased the viewership of automotive forums like ours(me included) as well as video reviews.
The pandemic though pushed a lot of people towards owning their own car for better isolation and not being dependent on local transport boosting sales. TML timed their safety campaigns quite well and although I disagree with some of their advertising, it struck home with their audience.

2. Without a doubt they have greatly benefited. They took the lead away from the Ecosport, the first CSUV(IIRC).

3. A-game they have, and the best way is to drive any one of their vehicles and feel the difference.
- Drive a Tiago and its competition in same price range, feels unbelievably VFM.
- The XUV300 seems expensive but start driving and it starts making sense. It feels and smells like a Korean to drive with the robustness and solid feel of a Mahindra.


TML:
IIRC the revamp of their passenger/private vehicles had begun with the Zest scoring 4 stars GNCAP and the Bolt coming with the 1.2 turbo petrol. The Tiago took away the "Indica" image and established itself.
I never thought TML would launch something like the Altroz and then the iTurbo and then the DCA. While we wait for the Altroz iTurbo DCA I must congratulate them for what they've achieved till date.

Mahindra:
The XUV700 launch sent shockwaves with the specs, features and interiors. IMHO the country is still recovering from what Mahindra have managed to deliver.


Honestly I would've never imagined what these two have achieved and them leading on the safety front is the icing on the cake.
While the global manufacturers keep blaming something or the other for their failures, these folks proved them wrong and how.

Proud of them, respect and kudos to their teams

[manpreetsj]

My wish is to see Tata and Mahindra in top 5 global automakers! The way we talk about VAG or Ford, one day an American will talk about Tata/ Mahindra.

Over last 2-3 years tata and Mahindra have reborn in ICE segment with new age cars and the way they are investing in EV, it is clear they will enjoy the first movers advantage.

In anycase, the mass markets like India and China will drive the global automakers sales and rankings!

Good times ahead!

[landcruiser123]

What would push the market share ahead is Mahindra making competent small cars! Tata has really turned the game around in this aspect. While not cutting edge, the Zest was a well-rounded and well-finished product. They really never looked back after that.


Mahindra has made some amazing SUVs and crossovers. Mahindra should certainly learn from Tata how to make a competent small car! I'd like to think that their phase of dishing out KUVs and Quantos is over.

[Indepth]

Despite all the praise, I am still a bit disappointed with Mahindra.
They had fair idea XUV700 will be a hit, still they launched with so low production capacity.
They definitely knew ScorpioN will be a hit, still the same.

I mean why Mahindra wants people to die for their cars !!
Isn't it better to increase production capacity or rather launch after having production capacity close to demand.

A waiting period of 2-3-4 months, acceptable but 2 years !!

I think Mahindra might be just getting reserve cash in hand to invest towards e vehicles.
They are just using their 2 best products for same. Otherwise I see no other reason why they shouldn't increase production capacity to atleast 10K / month for both the superstars.

[vb-saan]

Tata and Mahindra are playing the home advantage well, and rightly so – put your best foot forward in their primary market and let the market decide. They (especially Mahindra) have moved away from the notion that the Indian market is all about bling and features and have started providing products with quality and safety. There is definitely room for improvement, but they are in the right direction. Another factor is that the current buyers are well-informed, thanks to the global media and accessibility to updated information. They very well know that most of the MNCs plying their trade in India (barring the luxury segments) are actually selling their watered-down products in India citing viability and cost control. The difference between Made in India and Made for India (read localized/compromised) is huge, and unless the big Global manufacturers understand this, they will be always playing catch-up.

I will be happy if this duo can eventually dethrone Maruti, and Hyundai from the top. That will change the template for cars sold in India, and aspects like safety and quality could get into prominence when global players think of their Indian portfolio.

[ninjatalli]

Curious to understand why we are differentiating Maruti/Suzuki against the above duo. I get it the former is owned by an international MNC; but with regards to the tag of an "local" player, haven't they been more or less one from the start? In the current context, what aspects differentiates a Mahinda vs a Maruti/Suzuki? (in terms of being labelled a local manufacturer).

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Curious to understand why we are differentiating Maruti/Suzuki against the above duo. I get it the former is owned by an international MNC; but with regards to the tag of an "local" player, haven't they been more or less one from the start? In the current context, what aspects differentiates a Mahinda vs a Maruti/Suzuki? (in terms of being labelled a local manufacturer).

Well to start with, Tata and Mahindra products are truly indigenous. Everything they develop is either by an Indian company or with the support of subsidiaries owned by said Indian company.

Suzuki is still a global MNC (much like comparable competition from Honda, Toyota and others in the context of the above discussion) and therefore like the international competition being spoken of here, benefits from R&D efforts that have a much more global reach compared to Tata or Mahindra, and therefore deeper budgets.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Axe77

Well to start with, Tata and Mahindra products are truly indigenous. Everything they develop is either by an Indian company or with the support of subsidiaries owned by said Indian company.

Suzuki is still a global MNC (much like comparable competition from Honda, Toyota and others in the context of the above discussion) and therefore like the international competition being spoken of here, benefits from R&D efforts that have a much more global reach compared to Tata or Mahindra, and therefore deeper budgets.

Ah thanks. That makes sense; although given the global construct all these firms are operating in, I wonder how much of is done locally and how much of it due to R&D effort overseas (via the subsidiaries they acquired). It applies to JLR for Tata, SsangYong & other JVs with Ford, Renault & others. Don't have visibility, but on a similar note I remember reading about how Royal Enfield is benefitting a lot from it's UK acquired firm Harris Performance Products. I'm sure each of these "local" firms too are.


I was actually wondering if the tagging (local/international) was also due to how the revenue/profit (from a taxation perspective) is handled; as in differently for a MNC vs a local firm.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Ah thanks. That makes sense; although given the global construct all these firms are operating in, I wonder how much of is done locally and how much of it due to R&D effort overseas (via the subsidiaries they acquired). It applies to JLR for Tata, SsangYong & other JVs with Ford, Renault & others.

Fully agree with you on that. Product development today is indeed global for most players - which is why I categorically mentioned the role of subsidiaries.

I think here Tata and Mahindra are largely identified for their Indian parentage in holding and establishment, devoid of any foreign auto major backing as a parent, which even Maruti had in the form of Suzuki.

————

Coming to the topic at hand, it is indeed impressive what these two Indian auto giants have achieved. The Koreans were also late entrants and established a meaningful international footprint, finding space amongst established giants and there is no reason why Tata and Mahindra should not harbour and indeed deliver on similar ambitions.

They’ve got some great engines, excellent design teams, and if they can keep moving the needle on the overall product quality then hopefully they will move only strength to strength - both in the Indian market and fingers crossed, overseas too.

[Geta]

Without taking away any credit away from Tata, I am very impressed by the way Mahindra has played the game. Be it offering a diesel AT or a AT+ AWD/4WD or democratising high power engines (seriously, a BS6185 BHP diesel under 15 lacs and a 200 BHP petrol engine for Rs 12 lac ex showroom! Would we have believed it even in our wildest dreams till a year back??) or a minimum 4 star GNCAP rating for all their new offerings or investing in developing an in house BS6 diesel engine when market leaders (Maruti) and global players like VAG and Toyota are afraid to invest in diesels ("hesitant " may be the right word, but I would personally use "afraid" )... they have literally swam against the tide in all these aspects and nobody would have come to their rescue if any of these developments had backfired. The icing on the cake is despite all these they have managed to undercut the competition! I am very very impressed.