[pqr]

Best-selling cars: children of the liberalization era

In the pre-liberalization era before the 90s, Hindustan Motors (HM), Premier Auto Ltd. (PAL), Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), and Maruti Udyog Ltd. (MUL) ruled the Indian passenger vehicle (PV) and UV markets. Their products also enjoyed a monopoly in segments, or were the segments themselves, and raked in huge numbers.

Since the early 1990s, many new entrants have entered the liberalized market, including domestic and commercial vehicle manufacturer TELCO (now Tata Motors). Here is the list of the top 10 bestselling products from the manufacturers that entered the Indian passenger vehicle market since the 90s, in the post-liberalization era.



Hyundai has four products in the top 10 list, followed by two each from Tata and Honda, and one single product from Toyota. All three of the top three-selling products are hatchbacks.

‘Million’ club

Four products have crossed the million-sales mark.

Hyundai i10



Spanning over three generations, the i10 is the best-selling non-Maruti hatchback in the Indian market and is inching close to the 2 million sales milestone. For 13 long years, the i10 ensured Hyundai’s foothold in the top 10 rankings till 2020. Hyundai also happened to be the first to introduce a sunroof and torque converter transmission as options on the first-generation i10. It was quite popular among female drivers.

Hyundai Santro



‘Sunshine car’ is a product that has actually transformed the mass market passenger vehicle industry as it taught market leader Maruti the very concept of variants and features in the hatchback segment. The Santro was never able to match Maruti’s fuel efficiency benchmark, but it made up for that with loads of features. The facelift introduced with the Xing suffix was more palatable than the original design of 1998. It achieved its peak sales in 2006 and remained the #2 best-selling car for 5 years. However, the revival of the nameplate in 2018 was a disaster, and the product was discontinued in 2022.

Tata Indica



‘More car per car’ designed in Italy, the Indica was unquestionably a generation ahead in India. Problems were also plenty, so Tata quickly came up with a revised version called V2. Eventually, it sold well, largely due to its diesel engine and low price tag, for a car with huge in-cabin space. It held the top five positions in the Indian PV market for 12 years, rising to #2 position in 2007. The second generation of Indica, launched alongside it, in 2008, with the Vista suffix, was not that successful.

Hyundai i20



Spanning over three generations, the i20 brought a premium hatchback experience to the masses. The Europe-centric design was an instant hit among young generation buyers, and for 10 long years, the i20 secured a second slot for Hyundai in the top 10 ranking.

On the verge of joining the ‘Million’ club

Toyota Innova



A premium MPV inching towards the million sales mark, says a lot about the product and the Indian consumer’s psyche. Toyota kept on increasing the price of the Innova, and it kept on selling even more, thus defying the price elasticity curve followed by other products in the Indian market. It also proves that Indian customers are not cost-conscious but highly value-conscious. A product will sell well, if it is able to deliver the right value to its target segment.

Honda City



The oldest nameplate alive and a sedan, still in business, says a lot about the product in its fifth generation in India.

Hyundai Creta



Creta is not only one of the annual top 10 best-selling cars, but also the best revenue-generating product in the PV industry. In the Indian PV market, first mover advantage is a myth, and the Creta demonstrates that the best product takes the cake and, at times, decimates the competition. Similar to the Toyota Innvao, the Creta has defied the normal price elasticity curve since launch.

Others in the Top 10 List

• Tata Sumo: Inspired by the Mercedes G-Wagon design, the spacious Sumo was an instant hit when launched in 1994 and was very successful till the end of the 90s. The entry of the Toyota Qualis, Mahindra Bolero, and later Chevrolet Tavera made the following decade difficult for Sumo. The second generation launched to take on new entrants was a big disaster.
• Hyundai Eon: Hyundai brought the Eon in, as the Maruti Alto’s killer. The Eon had a much better interior and feel-good factor for that price, but vibrations from the newly developed 814cc engine could be felt from the gear lever. How did Eon perform? Eon was killed in an attempt to kill Alto.
• Honda Amaze: A custom-made sub-4m product for India, is more successful with its second generation, which draws upon the global Accord’s design.

[UD17]

Wao, What a lovely thread and thanks for the statistics.

Sumo: Iconic people mover. I had a long association with Tata Sumo, from back home when it is the poster boy of Taxi unions, moved around quite a lot in Uttarakhand in Sumo. I learned my driving in Sumo, much easy to handle with its commanding driving position, Okish powertrain from leaner point of view.

Indica: Worked in Vista Diesel project in the past which shares many engine components with Indica specially in 1.4TCIC and NA engines of TATA. Had a great memory of engineering learning in our department's vista and had driven the car a lot inside the Tata factory for the official purposes.


Honda city: The most iconic sedan in India if i may say so. Holding its position Inspite of several launch by competitors specially the Hyundai and MSIL. Still keeping very strong and remains a torchbearer of mid Sedan segment.

Hyundai Creta: Replacing the middle class aspirations from Honda city. Was strong and continuing to be further strong with its new radical avatars, features and excellent positioning.

[Ferruccio]

Excellent analysis. Request an additional analysis with Tiago added to the Indica data. The Tiago and Tigor are heavily updated versions of the Indica and Indigo after all. Let us call them "spiritual successor" to avoid hurting sentiments.

[anjan_c2007]

I think Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) deserves a special mention here. The deluge of MNC entries with their 'state of the art' models since the mid 1990's rattled quite a few domestic car makers. PAL and Sipani Automobiles bit the dust went into oblivion. But M&M went ahead with its resilience and emerged successful, despite the several MNC brands launching their newer models. The Bolero, a contraption of mechanicals from their bin on a new body shell, launched during the turn of the millennium still sells well with its BS VI version out now. And come the fully Indian Scorpio in June 2002 from their Nashik plant, rules of the game got totally changed. Initial drawing for the Scorpio as a modern 7 seater SUV was sketched out by a 26 year old IIT Design graduate named Shyam who later joined M&M. The total amount spent from the computer screen drawings till the launch was about Rs 550 crores, that was the costliest gamble ever for this homegrown company. It was a 'do or die' like situation but the gamble paid rich dividends. M&M has sold some 800,000 plus Scorpios since launch, averaging domestic sales of roughly 50,000 for the past many years. It has created its own space in the SUV segment with its DNA.

And we have all seen how this fully Indian SUV has changed rules of the game. For 20 and 22 years respectively, Scorpio and Bolero have been bread and butter products for M&M. These two models generated ample profits, based on which the company could launch quite a few more newer successful models and several LEMONS too. Many not so good lemons have disappeared though.

[bordeaux]

It's absolutely mind boggling that Honda City is the only sedan to make it to the club. What's more mind boggling is that they came close to selling almost a million of it! So sad the way Honda decided to butcher their entire portfolio by going the Maruti way with rampant cost cutting and cheap tactics. RIP Honda!

[black.beauty]

Cretas success is a pleasant surprise. In such a short time they have captured the market to become one of the most sold cars in Indian car scene. It also reflects how the purchasing power have increased, there was a time when Maruti Alto and other cheaper cars would be the top seller and now you keep seeing cars like Nexon, Brezza and Creta consistently featuring in Top 10 lists. It also shows how Hyundai has established the trust amongst the Indians and consistently offers fantastic cars with hassle free ownership experience.

[OPMaurya]

Originally Posted by pqr

A premium MPV inching towards the million sales mark, says a lot about the product and the Indian consumer’s psyche. Toyota kept on increasing the price of the Innova, and it kept on selling even more, thus defying the price elasticity curve followed by other products in the Indian market. It also proves that Indian customers are not cost-conscious but highly value-conscious. A product will sell well, if it is able to deliver the right value to its target segment.

Jaw dropping charts / infographics and excellent analysis to support them! Kudos to the efforts you have put in.
Interesting to see how Toyota confidently keeps on stretching the price of Innova. It gets out of reach day by day.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by pqr

Best-selling cars: children of the liberalization era

...

Here is the list of the top 10 bestselling products from the manufacturers that entered the Indian passenger vehicle market since the 90s, in the post-liberalization era.

Interesting thread. While I don't completely agree skipping out Mahindra and Maruti Suzuki vehicles out of the best selling cars of the post-liberalization era, your report still does give an interesting siloed market view. Quick question for clarification - do the numbers cover only sales in India? Hyundai (IIRC) successfully made a lot of export from its Indian manufacturing hub. Wonder what was the actual number of exports of some of these successful products.

Edit: With regards to Toyota Innova, it might be a good to remember the Toyota Qualis numbers (1.4L sales for 2000-2004) which was killed to make way for Innova in 2005. Back then everyone thought Toyota was crazy to kill the highly successful Qualis and replace it with Innova. Adding Qualis and Innova numbers breaches the 1Mn sales mark.