With 2017, we are starting a special news story series that will be talking about monthly sales of cars in India, along with a graphical analysis about the market scenario. Here’s the report for January 2017.
January is always a month of importance for various automakers. Most companies increase car prices with the advent of the new year. Additionally, all offers running in the last months of the previous year are scrapped. These might result in a slight sales drop. However, many customers who wish to buy cars of the new model year wait for January to take delivery. This not only matches the sales drop due to lack of discount, but also surpasses it. We have often seen automakers recording better sales numbers in January, as compared to the preceding months.
January 2017 was no different. India’s leading carmaker – Maruti Suzuki recorded its best-ever monthly sales figures, riding along the success of the Baleno, Vitara Brezza and the initial demand surge for the Ignis. However, the company’s leading cash cow – the Swift hatchback continued to be pushed back even further. There is only one reason behind this drop in Swift’s sales numbers – customers are waiting for the new model. Amazingly, the Dzire is still going strong, with over 18,000 unit sales.
January ’17 – Best selling cars in India
Despite facing tonnes of competition in its segment, the Alto is still the country’s largest selling car line, while the Dzire comes in second. It is amazing to see the Dzire still performing like this, since every major media portal has reported that the new-gen Dzire will be launched in India before the new Swift. While the market has clearly turned away from the Swift (which has now slipped down to the fourth position in our chart), the Dzire is outselling the hatchback by around 4,000 units.
Then there is the WagonR – a car that has been selling majorly unchanged for the past one decade. No marketing expenditure, no enticing special editions, nothing – and still Maruti has sold 14,930 units of the Wagon R in Jan ’17. Another such product is the Maruti Omni – a car that has been deemed unsafe by every organisation in the world, and still sells like hot cakes in the country, clocking 8,723 units. As a matter of fact, the cumulative sales of Omni and EECO (5456 units) crosses the total sales of over 50% of manufacturers operating in the country. This goes on to show the importance of practicality and space in vehicles, especially for the rural market.
Before going on to other manufacturers, we would like to point out that Maruti has 12 cars in the top 25 best selling car list, thanks to the addition of the recently launched Maruti Ignis, which recorded 4830 units sales. This number will surely increase in February since the Ignis was launched a week later in this month.
Talking about the rural markets, we have the Mahindra Bolero which recorded 6,598 unit sales, more than the likes of the Ciaz, City and even hatchbacks like the Eon and Tiago. The Tiago meanwhile is Tata’s only presence in the best selling cars in India chart. The automaker might be really looking forward to seeing the Hexa SUV there soon, followed by the Tigor (kite 5 sedan) and the Nexon.
January ’17 – Top Indian car manufacturers
Let’s analyse the top 5 automakers in this chart:
Maruti Suzuki
We have often been termed as Maruti fanboys, but just look at that chart above. In January ’17, Maruti Suzuki sold more cars in India than all other automakers COMBINED! Yep! Add every figure on the chart, from Hyundai to Fiat, and you will get a sum of 1,28,511. On the other hand, Maruti alone sold 1,33,768 cars in the past month. This translates to a market share of a whopping 51%.
Hyundai
Hyundai has been on the number 2 spot for a very long time. The automaker is banking on its built quality and feature-loaded cars to make sure that customers don’t go out of the portfolio. The Elantra and Tucson, which were launched last year, have received satisfactory response, while the regular blockbusters like the i20 and Creta are clocking higher numbers. It will be nice to see whether the recently introduced Grand i10 facelift and the upcoming Xcent facelift will be able to boost segment sales.
Mahindra
Mahindra is hugely banking on the UV segment to bring its sales numbers. The highest selling model from the Indian automaker is the Bolero, a car that hasn’t been updated from a very long time (don’t count the scrapping of bumpers as an update). The Bolero is followed by the Scorpio and XUV, with the latter’s sales expected to get a minor blog in the coming months, thanks to the Hexa. The NuvoSport, Xylo and Verito & Vibe twins are now dead as far as sales are concerned. Mahindra better pull the plug of these models.
Honda
Honda has managed to secure the fourth spot as per the car sales numbers in India for January 2017. Major sales drivers include the City sedan, Amaze compact sedan and Jazz hatchback. Interestingly, the recently launched Accord hybrid has completely dozed on its nose and has recorded zero sales in the past month. CR-V and Mobilio didn’t cross the two-digit mark, while the BR-V managed 1,458 unit sales. It will be interesting to see how the upcoming WR-V crossover performs for the company.
Tata Motors
If there is one manufacturer that is looking promising in the near future and can turn market scenario, it is Tata Motors. The Tiago is already selling like hot cakes, and with the AMT variant in the offing, the hatchback will surely eat its competition with ease. The Hexa too has received good response, while people are waiting to see how Tata places the Tigor compact sedan in India. Additionally, with the new TAMO sub-brand, Tata has made its intentions clear of attracting large volume as well as niche segments at the same time. As a result, Tata Motors is surely a company that you should keep eyes on. Will it be able to meet its aim of becoming the third largest carmaker in the country by 2020? Only time will tell!
Here’s segment-wise car sales figures for the month of January 2017.
Data for the above infographics has been taken from AutoPunditz