October 2017 was an important month for Indian car sales, thanks to the festive season. However, the Indian car market didn’t show any signs of growth during this period. Instead, car sales in India suffered a small drop, as compared to the previous month. This was majorly due to the economic slump prevalent in the country due to government initiatives like demonetisation and GST implementation.
Despite the market facing a sales drop, the market-leader – Maruti Suzuki, managed to record a growth of 9.3%. The company sold a total of 1,35,128 units in October 2017, as compared to 1,23,684 units during the preceding month. Maruti continues to enjoy a hefty market share of 48.9% of the Indian passenger car market. It also worth noting that 6 out of the 10 best selling cars in October 2017 were from the Maruti Suzuki stable.
On the other hand, Hyundai, Mahindra and Honda have recorded a sales drop. Another major drop came from Ford India, which suffered a 43.8% decline in sales. However, this was primarily due to the fact that the company had pulled out the EcoSport from the market, in anticipation of the new facelifted model that is expected to be launched on November 9.
Best-selling cars of October 2017
| 10 Best-selling Cars | Units |
| Maruti Dzire | 20,610 |
| Maruti Alto | 19,947 |
| Maruti Baleno | 14,538 |
| Hyundai Grand i10 | 14,417 |
| Maruti Wagon R | 13,043 |
| Maruti Celerio | 12,209 |
| Maruti Swift | 12,057 |
| Hyundai Elite i20 | 9,484 |
| Renault Kwid | 8,136 |
| Tata Tiago | 6,990 |
Key Insights
New Maruti Dzire continues to lead the passenger car market. This is the third consecutive month where the 2017 Dzire has been the best-selling car in India
The Maruti Baleno has been doing exceptionally well in the past few months. The growth in monthly sales is also a result of more production from Maruti Suzuki’s new Gujarat plant. Hence, people who have been waiting for months to get the delivery of the Baleno are finally getting their hands on the cars pretty soon
The Hyundai Grand i10 has once again managed to surpass the sales of its chief rival – the Maruti Swift. However, this can be attributed to the fact that the Swift in the last phases of its life and customers are well aware of the fact that once the new-gen Maruti Swift launched at the Auto Expo, it will again be the best-selling car in the segment
The Maruti Wagon R and Celerio are two real cash cows for the company. With no or minimal marketing, these two models have been selling like hot cakes. Talk about brand value and customer belief!
We are very happy to see the Tata Tiago in the list of the best selling cars in India. This is one car that deserves a lot more sales, owing to its value for money package. Nonetheless, the Tiago has surely managed to get Tata’s cash registers ticking, as the company recently announced reaching the 1 lakh production milestone for this cutesy hatchback