Indian Car Sales Analysis: October, 2014

Festive season, reduced fuel prices, new launches, special variants, attractive offers nothing helped Indian automotive industry as car sales in October, 2014 were quite ordinary. The overall passenger vehicle sector registered a de-growth of 4 per cent. Only Maruti Suzuki India, Hyundai and Honda attained a year on year growth. These three companies have launched slew of new products in past one year, which are helping the brands to maintain the sales number.

The sales of Passenger Vehicles grew by 2.30 percent in April-October 2014 over the same period last year. Within the Passenger Vehicles segment, Passenger Cars and Utility Vehicles grew by 3.03 percent and 7.02 percent respectively, while Vans declined by (-) 15.62 percent in April-October 2014 over the same period last year. Here is our detailed sales report for October, 2014.

Top-5 Car Manufacturers:

Maruti Suzuki India (44.77 %)

Maruti Suzuki India remains at top with a market share of 44.77 per cent. The manufacturer posted a positive growth of 1 per cent and retailed 97,069 units. 6 Maruti Suzuki cars made top-10 list including Alto 800, Swift Dzire, WagonR, Swift, Ciaz and Omni. The manufacturer launched New Maruti Swift in the last week. The limited stock before the launch has affected Swift’s sales and MSI sold only 11,965 units against 17,265 units in September, 2014.  However, the newly launched Ciaz outperformed segment leader Honda City with 6,345 units against City’s 5,120 units. The manufacturer has also launched the next gen Alto K10, which is looking quite capable, so with this new introduction, we are hoping a better November for the manufacturer.

Hyundai (17.53 %)

Hyundai is one of the fastest growing brands in India and with a market share of 17.53 per cent, Hyundai holds the second position in India. The South Korean brand retailed 38,010 units in October, 2014, which is 5.6 per cent more than the corresponding month last year. Hyundai Elite i20 was best-seller for Hyundai with 8,896 unit followed by Grand i10 with 8400 units. Hyundai EON with 6,986 units and Xcent with 4,629 units also performed well.

Mahindra & Mahindra (8.48 %)

The home grown manufacturer has posted a negative growth of 16 per cent with a total sales 19,254 units against 22,254 units in October, 2014. The newly launched Scorpio facelift has sold 5,049 units; however there is still a hope of improvement in sales. The ever popular Bolero continues to sell well with 9,090 units. The XUV500 is also keeping the momentum with 3,100 units. However, all other vehicles including Xylo, Quanto, Verito and Vibe are not doing well as these are selling below 1000 units.

Honda (6.11 %)

The Japanese manufacturer is doing well since the Amaze launch. The Earthdream diesel engine changed company’s fortune and lifted Honda to the fourth slot in the Indian car market. Honda sold 13,242 units, which is 18 per cent more than 11,154 units in October, 2013. Honda City, Amaze and Mobilio are the major contributors to this growth. However, the inconsistency in Honda’s sales has been observed. For instance sales of Amaze, Mobilio and Brio have been fallen subsequently. So, it is important that Honda restructure its marketing and manufacture, so a consistent growth can be achieved.   

Toyota (5.31 %)

Ranked #1 globally, the Ace Japanese manufacturer is at 5^th spot in India with a market share of 5.31 per cent. In October, 2014, Toyota registered a negative growth of 4.60 per cent. Toyota gets a major contribution of its sales from UV sector. Innova with 5147 units and Fortuner with 1491 units performed well. The other notable contribution comes from its popular D-segment offering Corolla Altis. Toyota retailed 1015 units of Altis last month. The Etios Cross is also gaining momentum and Liva and Etios Cross posted combined sales of 2409 units in October, 2014.

Top-10 Cars in India

Maruti Suzuki India dominates this list with a total of 6 cars and top-4 spots. Maruti Alto 800, Swift Dzire, WagonR, Swift, Ciaz and Omni made it to this list. Mahindra remained the most popular SUV in India and secured 5^th position in the list. Rest 3 slots have been secured by South Korean manufacturer Hyundai as Elite i20, Grand i10 and EON got 6^th, 7^th and 8^th spot respectively. The Celerio missed the top-10 list by a whisker. Maruti Ciaz made to the list for the first time and as we are getting positive review, it might also remain in the list for many months to come by. 

Top-5 Hatchbacks in India:

The hatchback segment holds the massive 49 per cent of the Indian car market. Therefore, the segment is quite important. In October, 2014, the segment have seen quite a few interesting changes, like Maruti Suzuki WagonR outperformed Swift by posting sales of 14,310 units against Swift’s 11,965 units. On the other hand, Hyundai retailed 8896 units of Elite i20, which was higher than the Grand i10’s 8400 units. It is possibly due to New Swift’s launch in last week of October, which resulted into a halt is supply for a week or two. So, those who are willing to buy Swift might switch over to the Elite i20.

Top-5 Sedans in India

With a 25 per cent share, sedans are the second most popular segment in the Indian car market. The segment is largely dominated by entry level sedans and mid-sized sedans. Maruti Swift Dzire tops the segment, in October, 2014 Maruti sold 17950 units of Dzire. There have been two new entries this month as Maruti Suzuki Ciaz and Tata Zest made to the list. The newly launched Ciaz is also the new segment leader in mid-sized sedans. The Zest gets the 5^th slot, which is a good news for Tata and its constant growth suggests that buyers are liking it. Honda Amaze missed the list by a whisker as its 3482 units were a bit lesser than the Zest’s 3524 units.

Top-5 SUVs in India

SUV segment is one of the fastest growing segments in India and currently holds 9 per cent of the total sales. The segment is largely dominated by Mahindra as the Indian manufacturer has its expertise in this very segment. Three Mahindra SUVs made to the top-5 list. Mahindra Bolero tops the list with 9090 units, which is the most sold SUVs in India for quite a long time. Apart from Mahindra, two compact SUVs – EcoSport and Duster hold the 3^rd and 4^th spot.

Top-5 MUVs/MPVs in India

The MUV segment commands 17 per cent of the total passenger vehicle sales. The versatile nature of MUVs and their people’s mover image help these to be sold like hot cakes. The segment is being led by Maruti’s Omni with a total sale of 6144 units. The second slot has been secured by Innova with 5147 units. Honda Mobilio didn’t sell well in October, 2014 and dropped to 5^th place with 2985 units against Maruti Ertiga’s 5025 units.