[informmaha]

What a great month indeed for VW. I am (and hope many are with me) very much impressed with the marketing of VW. With the Vento launch, they stunned everyone with a "talking" news paper. Now with Passat launch, they have done it again. Just after the win for the men in blue in semi-final's, they stormed every major newspaper headlines in Bangalore with Blue font in every page (for blue technology which is much talked about in Passat). What a time for them to launch this car!!! No one has ever thought of this kind of marketing. Kudos to the marketing team..With the agressive pricing, they are sure to win many hearts..

As many said, I was also woundering why City was selling like hot cakes 2 or 3 years back and as rightly said it was because of a non-competitive car in that segment. If this is the case for Honda, then in some years we are going to see the same for other manufacturer's too..Sometimes feel very bored to see same old models on road, now that with so many manufacturer's, the competetion is indeed a very healthy one, a visual treat for everyone never-the-less

[cuboid]

oh... I am so relived by this month's numbers - there is still some fairness in this world. That snob of a company, Honda, has its nose bleeding. Who would have thought the much-awed brand have itself cut to size. Just last year, ANHC was selling 5-6k - now halved to 2.7k. Awesome.

Look at Toyota - they are also much revered for quality and brand value - and what have they pulled out of hat for a number churning segment - Etios. Compare that with Jazz. Go tell Honda to reduce its price, as if they would ever understand what sensible pricing is. It's really boom-or-bust for Honda with Brio.

In Honda stable, only ANHC did not have proper competition - Civic has Altis/Cruze, Accord has Superb, and the new Passat, CR-V closed shop after Fortuner came in. Only ANHC was ruling - now Vento has put that to its place. With New Fiesta and ANHV - it is going to be tougher for ANHC. There is no doubt Honda make good cars - but they only rule when there is no competition.

Super awesome VW - impressive is an understatement. I don't think VW have thought of reaching 8k per month numbers within one year of launching mass market cars.

[safari_lover]

Nano has topped the Tata sales charts for the first time, IIRC.

Sumo/Grande's good numbers are due to the Grande turbo effect, I assume. Have been spotting quite a few on Bengaluru roads.

It's just amazing how Hyundai manages to sell more than 8K of the Santros!

Finally, all that huge ad spending is finally paying off for VW, it seems! Honda should be really worried and should do a Fabia job on their Jazz..

[rajeev k]

Even in March Honda had certain offers for ANHC, a first instance. This could lead to Honda further reductions or launch of a seperate lesser option variant and in which case we can have VWs (Petrol Ventos and Polos) at lesser prices. Buyers time definitely.

[Daewood]

Anyone's got FIAT nos?

Originally Posted by akhilesh

Surprised by the number of Fabia's sold. Does A$$ really matter?

When Fabia was easily the best Hatchback in the market, Indian customers shunned it. They launched a stipped down version of the car and it's close to becoming a success. Wonder if it's because of the beige interiors

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

Reduce the price of petrol Jazz by 1 L and introduce Diesel Jazz at the same price and then its a game for Honda.

They can't in it's current avtar. In markets were Jazz is sold alongside City, Jazz is pricier than City. Maybe if they strip down the Jazz and introduce cheaper localised parts they can reduce the price, which i don't think Honda will do.

[neil.jericho]

Nice to see the Figo & Nano doing good numbers. Both deserve the numbers they are doing.

Isnt it ironic that Honda, the same company that has been giving us good cars albeit at a premium has gone and done the opposite in the 2 wheeler market and positioned its CBR 250 at a rock bottom price that is bringing in bookings like there is no tomorrow?

[kiku007]

Figo sales at nearly 9K is fantastic! I was expecting it to average at 7K. Time to increase dealerships and service centres! The current ones are overloaded is an understatement.

The success/failure of the polo-vento, figo-fiesta, jazz-city, punto-linea (same platforms in hatch and sedan versions) should be taken as a case study!

[RoadTiger]

I think we're beginning to see some big trends emerging over the last year or so:
- Some of the global biggies ... Ford, VW are beginning to get their act together in India
- Some local guys ... Mahindra and Tatas are putting an unpreceedented 'fight'
- Some laid-back dominant players ... Honda are beginning to struggle
- I suspect Maruti's share may trend downwards over a period of time - its loyal customers tho' undoubtedly remain the large VFM buyers and semi-urban/rural India
- Hyundai has been behind in terms of new product introduction - some would say they've had unexpected success in terms of large volumes with the i20 - remains to be seen how they keep defending their turf

[PCS]

Maruti Sales.

800 - 2915
OMNI- 7808
ALTO - 38065
ESTILO - 4403
WAGON R - 14885
DZIRE - 10278
SX4 - 3632
EECO - 6608
SWIFT - 12114
A STAR - 2934
RITZ - 6059
KIZASHI - 103
GYPSY - 606
VITARA - 14

[xingamazon]

I am realy amazed by so many of the fellow people commenting such things abt the ANHC, for heavens sake it is not a bad car at all.
The perception that it is a costly to own costly to maintain is not a view which is shared by its current owners or potential.
What others think of it is not something that Honda should be bothered about.

Frankly, its one hell of a car, and just because Vento has beat it in numbers doesnt take away anything from the car.
Its just a life cycle, few cars come on top, by pushing something down. Its all in the game.

[SPARKled]

Awesome Maruti figures as usual. Swift is at the fag end of its life but still is the best selling hatch.

SX4 too has beaten the City due to the diesel launch. Honda has to launch a diesel City or be decimated by the looks of it or else reduce its price considerably.

Just wondering if the high sales figures are more due to the all India reach Maruti have which I guess is better than anyone else. So when GM and and Ford and others are able to reach every corner of India like Maruti has, will Maruti still rule or will there finally be a balance. I say this because there are some relative duds which still sell inspite of better products within Maruti themselves and else where. So this makes me wonder if this is mainly due to the better dealership network/ reach than anything else. A head start in India has really helped Maruti I must say. For eg. In Navi Mumbai where I stay, we have 1 GM, Ford dealer for entire Navi Mumbai Chembur area while there are 3 Maruti dealers in navi mumbai alone and 2-3 more in Chembur Ghatkopar area. So I guess its just convenient for people to buy a Maruti than anything else.

[parsh]

Aria's dismal performance is quite worrysome. Although a fantastic creation from Tata's stable, the positioning does not seem to be good despite the market research done by Tata. On ther other hand, Etios seems to be emerging winner despite its drawbacks and Japs' Indian market research paying off.

Way to go Vento...finally the HC effect is wearing off with the fresh and better competition missed so far. Hope VW strengthens its network and parts and maint. costs are not heavy on pocket.

[p'arth]

Ritz is slowly but surely gaining volume. The looks had been preventing its initial sales but its a solid practical car and word of mouth feedback from owners is only helping it in increasing sales.

[mxx]

Honda should be worried about the City, not just because vento overtook in sales figures for a month, but because the new verna(which according to first drive reports is pretty good) and fiesta sedan is going to make its life harder.

[bluevolt]

Originally Posted by xingamazon

I am realy amazed by so many of the fellow people commenting such things abt the ANHC, for heavens sake it is not a bad car at all.
The perception that it is a costly to own costly to maintain is not a view which is shared by its current owners or potential.
What others think of it is not something that Honda should be bothered about.

Frankly, its one hell of a car, and just because Vento has beat it in numbers doesnt take away anything from the car.
Its just a life cycle, few cars come on top, by pushing something down. Its all in the game.

+1

If Honda city is dethroned from number one sales position then that is because of the DIESEL option available in vento. If vento was only available in petrol then there was no way it had crossed HC's sales mark.

But VW is offering a fantastic product and that too at very competitive price. The competition is good for both the companies and customers.
And the recent recall by Honda has thrashed their image which is the another big cause for their low sales.