Hatchbacks:
- 800 crashing every month and now at truly historic lows. Who said the Indian market wants the cheapest? Nope, VALUE is the new buzz word. I wouldn’t be surprised if the 800’s manufacturing cost is veering dangerously close to that of the Alto (economies of scale).
- Palio down a whopping 41%, but an increase of 170 cars month on month. I’ve said this before and will say it again : Fiat, kill the Palio & focus on modern products instead (Linea, Punto etc.). That’ll be a step in the right direction, toward rebuilding your image.
- Maruti records a massive 20.7% YOY growth in this segment, no doubt boosted by the Ritz & the A-star. Perhaps overproduction in 5/09: 67126 produced, 62,000 sold (incl. exports).
- Price cuts & melodies (music editions) seem to be helping the Spark’s cause, GM’s bankruptcy notwithstanding. The li’l hatch has enjoyed about a 17.2% YOY growth. Be sure to check the manufactured date though, GM’s moving old stock (as for the brand’s other cars too).
- Hyundai Santro & i10 are pretty much flat compared to the previous year (- 1.7%), yet an extremely impressive 21,000 cars moved (includes i20s too). Future growth will only come from diesels (diesels now account for 1/3 of all passenger cars sold in India). Exports up 45% BTW.
- The Indicas (old & Vista) have gained 3.3% YOY to a respectable 10,000 cars sold! Still, the Vista hasn’t made the impact that Tata expected it to.
- The worst selling hatch in the country? Yup, it’s the Skoda Fabia. A meager 232 cars sold, Skoda is now selling old stock Fabia (only 50 produced in 5/09). Skoda expected this car to give it the volumes (cheapest in the lineup) but is paying a heavy price for its shoddy service, expensive cost of ownership, substandard reliability etc. Sedans:
- Maruti is the C-segment leader with 6,782 Dzire’s & SX4s whisked off showroom floors. The diesel Dzire, though not excelling in any single area, is the current rockstar in this segment.
- The Honda city records a 53% YOY step at 3638 (up from 2375). Clearly the current cash cow for Honda.
- Unexpected hero : Cut-price Ford Fiesta! The 5.5 lakh offer has got to be a substantial contributor to Ford’s 25.8% growth in the C segment. The Fiesta + Ikon managed to move 1,894 units in May 2009.
- The Linea is down to 901 cars (from 1100 – 1600 in recent months). Will probably stabilize around this range (diesel FE + build + size trump cards). Moderate overproduction in 5/09 means more than expected dealer stock.
- One can literally see the stress lines on Hyundai’s forehead. The Verna (now outclassed by competition) and Accent have fallen from grace (- 19.2% at a combined 2,593 cars).
- The Indigo is losing favour with buyers : YOY sales down 37.6% to 2,832 cars (from 4,542). Tata desperately needs the new Vista sedan. Hope they don’t botch the branding up though (a la new Indica). Tata is not producing and only selling 3/09 and 4/09 Indigos (mere 248 produced).
- Bye bye Aveo, Farewell to Optra. YOY sales down 60% (only 152 cars) for the Aveo and 69% (only 120 cars) for the Optra. Second biggest loss in the segment (after the Logan). GM desperately needs something fresh, the Optra’s gotten long in the tooth.
- The Ambassador, Lancer & Cedia trundle along at a combined 615 cars. HM must be satisfied (one of them is 60 years old, the other 12!). Majority – I bet – from the Ambassador (political + taxi customers).
- RIP Mahindra-Renault! A measly 427 cars sold in the Logan’s worst performance yet. Most of those have got to be commercial sales (taxis et al). An outdated cut-price product at a premium price (over the Indigo)? I don’t think so. Renault must be fuming.
Last edited by GTO : 9th June 2009 at 12:00.
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