[GTO]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Been seeing i20s on a regular basis on the roads here in Bangalore these days. Saw quite a few in Kerala as well. Has it managed to shake off the shackles which proved to be a dampner earlier? I sure see a lot more of i20s than even Fabias.

i20 is selling respectably well. A consistent 1,500 cars IIRC.

Originally Posted by YC.BALENO.CHD

As for the low sales of SX4:

And the fact that there is a diesel sedan in the same showroom. From the typical Indian customers perspective, a diesel Dzire sedan (13 kpl of the cheap stuff) or a petrol SX4 sedan (9 kpl of the premium stuff)? The Dzire has surely eaten into the SX4's pie.

[romeomidhun]

Originally Posted by GTO

And the fact that there is a diesel sedan in the same showroom. From the typical Indian customers perspective, a diesel Dzire sedan (13 kpl of the cheap stuff) or a petrol SX4 sedan (9 kpl of the premium stuff)? The Dzire has surely eaten into the SX4's pie.

9KMPL?
My SX4 gives 14-15KMPL on 95% highway driving. But drives in the range of 50-70 KMPH only, for max FE.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

My SX4 gives 14-15KMPL on 95% highway driving.

I guess GTO was giving a ballpark figure of the car's city FE, since that is where most of us drive most of the time.

Originally Posted by YC.BALENO.CHD

As for the low sales of SX4:
a) We have few performance seekers in India, hence people tend to buy cars with better FE
b)Likes of Vernas and Fiestas, which have diesel motors as option, SX4 does not.

Add the 3rd reason mentioned by GTO - diesel-sibling (Dzire) eating into SX4's sales.

But the main reason for SX4 doing badly is MSIL moving away from its tried 'n tested USP - lightweight cars that are reliable, FE & decently powered. With the SX4, they increased the kerb weight which means a stronger car, but that is not what its target customers wanted. They increased the power, but that was not what customers wanted from MSIL. These guys got the plot wrong.

Ofcourse, the Indian consumer will still overlook these issues and buy the SX4 in droves. For which all MSIL needs to do is plonk a diesel motor in it. But asking this of a company who are were not able to anticipate Swift-D demand and thus are turning away customers, would be too much.

BTW, of the actual car buyers in India, the performance seekers would comprise a very negligible minority. And I am not talking about the lay buyer. Even on tbhp, where you have people saying give me 100bhp or 120bhp, but when it comes to buying, how many go by that ? With the amount of clamour on tbhp about a really powerful super-hatch, the Getz-D should be selling in truckloads, but that ain't the case as we know.

Originally Posted by YC.BALENO.CHD

For a real comparo, it will be interesting to compare sales of SX4 with Verna/linea/fiesta petrol.

Should the ANHC also not be on the comparo list, since it comes only in petrol ? But again this is just academic because manufacturers do not release figures of petrol and diesel versions separately.

[nkrishnap]

@Vasudeva: Eagerly awaiting the excel sheet. Waiting to see the numbers for a few cars as to how the sales have been for April

[opendro]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

But the main reason for SX4 doing badly is MSIL moving away from its tried 'n tested USP - lightweight cars that are reliable, FE & decently powered. With the SX4, they increased the kerb weight which means a stronger car, but that is not what its target customers wanted. They increased the power, but that was not what customers wanted from MSIL. These guys got the plot wrong.

With the amount of clamour on tbhp about a really powerful super-hatch, the Getz-D should be selling in truckloads, but that ain't the case as we know.

I don't quite agree. From your point of view, Swift petrol shouldn't be selling at all. Less space, costlier than competitions and thus less VFM. But people still liked the 88bhp on Swift petrol mill even at a higher cost. I know it is an overall package that makes Swift sell. But just wanted to point out that it does not fall in the "maruti-kind-of" customer base. It still is super success.

Getz-D does not sell for various reasons. For a car with that much power, no airbags, ABS and EBD, where their own i10 even offers most of the things. Most power hungry people who can shell out a higher cost also demand a lot of other things in the package. That is where Getz-D loses. And add to that, they have no intention to market or sell this. Their marketers probably gave up before they tried.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by opendro

From your point of view, Swift petrol shouldn't be selling at all. Less space, costlier than competitions and thus less VFM. But people still liked the 88bhp on Swift petrol mill even at a higher cost. I know it is an overall package that makes Swift sell. But just wanted to point out that it does not fall in the "maruti-kind-of" customer base. It still is super success.

I agree that to an extent the Swift also does not fall in the usual MSIL pattern esp. with the higher weight. But again it was a hatch (a segment in which MSIL has the most presence and sales) + it had going for it a 'different styling' which seems to have appealed to people + a price tag that starts at 4L odd - which is almost on par with equivalent competition. Also with the Swift, FE was not an issue. Plus the diesel variant factor, presence of which, like I said in my previous post, will make customers even ignore the kerb weight & FE of SX4.

[diffsoft]

@vasudeva: Are we likely to get sales figures this month? Very very curious to find out how the various segments are panning out!

Sorry for the impatience!

Cheers,

[vasudeva]

Originally Posted by diffsoft

@vasudeva: Are we likely to get sales figures this month? Very very curious to find out how the various segments are panning out!

Sorry for the impatience!

Cheers,

Will post them when they are available. Could be a delay this month. Anyway April is usually a lean month in the industry.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by opendro

I don't quite agree. From your point of view, Swift petrol shouldn't be selling at all.

The Swift petrol now accounts for a mere 35% of all Swifts sold!

[opendro]

Originally Posted by GTO

The Swift petrol now accounts for a mere 35% of all Swifts sold!

Oh! Really? Thanks for letting me know. My comment was more based on the numbers I see on the road.

[vasudeva]

Originally Posted by opendro

Oh! Really? Thanks for letting me know. My comment was more based on the numbers I see on the road.

Swift petrol was launched in 2005 and sold a lot till Diesel was launched in 2008. So the stock of petrol and the numbers seen on the road could be higher.

[oss]

Hey Vasudeva,
Come on man. We are waiting for you......

[nkrishnap]

@All - By any chance does anybody have the numbers for Linea. Very eager to know how it fairing in the sales for the 4th month.

@ Vasudeva - Your excel sheet is eagerly awaited

[Prash]

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

@All - By any chance does anybody have the numbers for Linea. Very eager to know how it fairing in the sales for the 4th month.

@ Vasudeva - Your excel sheet is eagerly awaited

Linea and Palio sold approx 1500 april 09. So i guess Linea must be around 14xx.

[vasudeva]

Linea sold 1101 in 4/2009 and Palio sold 71. Exact figures.
The sales figures for 4/2009 shall be posted soon.