September 2010 - Indian Car Sales Figures

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by JayD

Not excatly. The i20 was always selling above 4k units average, and after the introduction of the diesel variants, has always been 6k+ units a month. And btw, none of the diesels are in the 5-6 lac range, the base era is 6+ OTR.

i20 was not selling above 4k's unit *always*. The sales have shot up for the past few month which is when the Era models have been introduced.
Base Era diesel in Delhi is Rs 5.75 Lakhs while the petrol is Rs 4.53 Lakhs

[Daewood]

Originally Posted by shivasuma

But kudos to other manufacturers who still have the HPS in their cars (Ford, Fiat).

Even if they(Hyundai, Daewoo,etc) want to install EPS due to cost/fuel efficiency, why don't they have something like in Swift/ A-star, which mimics the 'hydraulic steering feel' quite successfully.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by GTO

Certainly isn't. Guys like you, me and most other BHPians prefer well-weighted hydraulic steering wheels. However, my Dad, sister, cousins, friends and the other 99% of the car market like their steerings light & effortless. Hyundai (and other EPS-equipped cars) are simply giving the market what they want!

I find hydraulic ps even more useful in the city simply because I have going in and out a lot. With the i20's steering I would not know by how much. I am sure that I would learn to adjust with the steering on the i20 in due course but nothing is better than proper feedback and reaction by your instincts because in this case you don't have to 'think' and then calculate.

[GTO]

Porsche received and added to the first post:

PORSCHE
Cayenne : 4
Panamera : 3
911 : 1
Cayman S : 1
Boxster S : 1

Now, who's that wise guy who argued against the business sense of the Porsche SUV and sedan? The 4 door Porsches account for 70% of the brand's India sales. And I can think of plenty other global markets where this is replicated.

Purists can't digest the thought of 4 door Porsches, but its these cars that lead to a better 911 (by making the company more profitable).

[gou]

Originally Posted by adimicra

Great work GTO! It was real fast.

Some observations -

• Altis diesel does not seem to have made any significant impact
• Civic sales picked up marginally
• WagnoR and Alto continue to do great for Maruti.
  
• Polo seems to have settled around 3K and Micra around 1K.
• Figo seems to have settled around 6.5K
• Verna Transform is having limited impact, as expected
• Jazz is slowly picking up from 200 odd in Feb to 600+
• I10 is doing great, going to hit 15K in the next month I guess with the new version
• Swift is finally showing its age. Time for Maruti to get the new Swift.
• Fiat is the only company which seems to be going down consistently.
• City's numbers are amazing, almost same as Indica
• The biggest surprise continues to be the I20 with an amazing 7.5K+

Polo's figure's must improve once production stabilizes. Polo has 3 months waiting right now.

City sales are also almost equal to Santro. When the revamped WagonR is doing so good, I don't understand why Hyundai is not bringing in a new Santro?

[petroguzzler]

Originally Posted by GTO

FIAT
FIAT 500 : 0


VOLKSWAGEN
VW Beetle : 38

Does FIAT have such a bad reputation in our country. Both are niche products, The Fiat is at least 10years newer and the fiat has a DIESEL engine. 38:0 is quite shocking!

[nkrishnap]

I believe the i10 is nothing but the new Santro, similarly the i20 is the new Getz. However in India they are sold side by side.

Some things can only happen in India.

[atrisarkar]

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

I believe the i10 is nothing but the new Santro, similarly the i20 is the new Getz. However in India they are sold side by side.

Some things can only happen in India.

And these strategies work wonders for the sales chart. I see nothing wrong in cashing on the herd mentality of most of the consumers which is the reason behind such strategies.
Although i20 may be the new Getz, but I feel its a pity that it was taken off. Am sure it would have done wonders for Hyundai in terms of increasing the figures by 2-2.5k eating from the Ford's Figo plate.

[diabloo]

Its just matter of practice. But, IMHO once you get used to it, EPS is as good as HPS. I think there is a separate thread of EPS v HPS. Ha, found it EPS Vs HPS - Team-BHP

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

With the i20's steering I would not know by how much. I am sure that I would learn to adjust with the steering on the i20 in due course but nothing is better than proper feedback and reaction by your instincts because in this case you don't have to 'think' and then calculate.

IMO, Getz was discontinued before i20 was launched and oh boy see the sales i20 ! Maruti didn't pull the plug Alto when it launched AStar and with the sales of Alto hitting the roof, that seemed to a good decision in the hindsight.
Similarly Fiat didn't withdraw Palio when Punto was launched but neither Palio nor Punto is hitting the expected sales.
We can say Hyundai & Maruti, compared to Fiat, made great marketing decisions in this aspect.

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

I believe the i10 is nothing but the new Santro, similarly the i20 is the new Getz. However in India they are sold side by side.

Some things can only happen in India.

[anu21v]

Originally Posted by atrisarkar

And these strategies work wonders for the sales chart. I see nothing wrong in cashing on the herd mentality of most of the consumers which is the reason behind such strategies.
Although i20 may be the new Getz, but I feel its a pity that it was taken off. Am sure it would have done wonders for Hyundai in terms of increasing the figures by 2-2.5k eating from the Ford's Figo plate.

Indeed i20 is the new Getz. But one shouldn't confuse it with Just a major engineering change (MCE). Its a complete new architecture and flurry of new features & options, couple with a very European outer and inner design-work which are creating the magic.

[avi550m]

It would have made sense for Hyundai to follow the same strategy as Maruti, i.e. keep the previous gen model and sell the current gen one at a higher price (Getz vs i20). However, I feel that it would not have been possible with the i10 around. The Getz was in the same price range as the i10, and the customer would perhaps have got confused with the number of options available. (Thought this doesn't seem to be affecting Maruti with its Gazillion options at the same price points).

Fact it, selling a model which has been replaced internationally (e.g. the Figo, which is based on the 2002 International Fiesta) makes a lot of sense in India, as the pricing can bemade very competitive. If Hyundai had the Getz in its range, it would have provided a good alternative to the low cost Figo, as atrisarkar mentioned. It would have cannibalized some i10 sales, though.

[sidindica]

Originally Posted by avi550m

It would have made sense for Hyundai to follow the same strategy as Maruti, i.e. keep the previous gen model and sell the current gen one at a higher price (Getz vs i20). However, I feel that it would not have been possible with the i10 around. The Getz was in the same price range as the i10, and the customer would perhaps have got confused with the number of options available. (Thought this doesn't seem to be affecting Maruti with its Gazillion options at the same price points).

Fact it, selling a model which has been replaced internationally (e.g. the Figo, which is based on the 2002 International Fiesta) makes a lot of sense in India, as the pricing can bemade very competitive. If Hyundai had the Getz in its range, it would have provided a good alternative to the low cost Figo, as atrisarkar mentioned. It would have cannibalized some i10 sales, though.

The alto K10 has already killed the a-star and the wagon-R has already killed the zen estilo. frankly, whats the point of having the estilo on the lineup?

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by diabloo

Its just matter of practice. But, IMHO once you get used to it, EPS is as good as HPS. I think there is a separate thread of EPS v HPS. Ha, found it EPS Vs HPS - Team-BHP

I have driven my friends Swift extensively, which as per people has one of the better EPS units but sorry I can't adjust to it. Given an option I would always prefer the HPS.

[avi550m]

Originally Posted by sidindica

The alto K10 has already killed the a-star and the wagon-R has already killed the zen estilo. frankly, whats the point of having the estilo on the lineup?

I believe that the problem with the Estilo was than it was just a rebodied and slightly less well built WagonR when it was launched. And the previous gen wagonR was launched in 2000. So it wasn't really an all 'new' and improved product.

But I agree with the A-Star. Maruti simply lost the plot with that one, which should have become the new Alto in India. They could have made the Alto 800 the entry level car and the A-Star priced around the same range as the K-10 is today. But, oh well...

[rock75]

As Alto was doing good numbers and was the top selling car model in the country Maruti did not want to take a risk and so it didn't phase it out. A star was priced higher to retain alto sales as it might not have appealed to a wider audience due to its funky design and less space in the back.

A star is still doing around 3k units per month but the main kicker is export where it is doing pretty well and with alto and alto k10 they have solid base of around 25k+ units sales every month in coming time(i'm sure it will increase to 30k per month)

Maruti has already exported 2 lac A star cars in less than 20 months of starting the export of this model. (source: http://smartinvestor.in/market/story..._lakh_mark.htm)