Good Month again for Indian Auto Industry. Here's my brief take on each Manufacturer.
CHEVROLET - This GM owned brand has to be the most affected and least smiling brand in India. With as many as 8 products across segments, none of them have been able to establish good sales figures. The Beat is the only one selling well(16xx units) but one time it used to sell 5-6k/ month. The Cruze & Captiva are global products and are at the premium end and thier numbers are less compared to rivals. The Sail twins are the major disappointments as they don't have anything going for them. The way forward is to replace those with Sonic Twins which are much contemporary in look & feel.
FIAT - Again many enthusiasts like their products but the sales numbers are very low. Despite being well engineered, built there are hardly any takers. All new Punto & Linea are the way forward if Fiat wants any volumes. Variant updates, facelifts will not do Fiat.
FORD - Ford is posting loss every month and the lack of products and marketing is to blamed. Figo & Classic feel outdated and will be replaced soon by new gen versions. New Fiesta hardly sells despite being a very good car in all areas. Again lack of Marketing & Interest from dealers the major reason for its downslide. Ecosport is the lone seller and would have been nice if Ford had concentrated more on domestic sales rather then exporting which let to high waiting period which ultimately putt-off many buyers. Endeavour is showing its age and I cannot believe that the 12 year old product is still on sale. Good thing is that new Figo Twins & Endeavour will bring the sales momentum.
HONDA - Excellent month for Honda and they are fighting for 3rd spot with Mahindra. City being the king of segment and for Honda as well. That Efficient & Practical Diesel engine and Explosive & Fast Petrol engine are the major USPs along with good styling and equipment. It ticks every boxes that the consumer wants in this price range song with Premium badge. Expect it be the leader in coming months too. The Amaze again does good numbers. Mobilio Pricing is putting prospective customers off IMO. CRV numbers are ok since its a petrol. Once Jazz is launched I expect Honda to be No.3.
HYUNDAI - The Car of the Year 'i20' doing very well along with Grand i10. Features and good looks the reason to attract buyers. Verna is expected to sell more once facelift arrives. Elantra has lost its numbers compared to earlier months, Corolla Effect ?. Sonata dismal numbers has made Hyundai to discontinue it. Eon is doing well and Santa Fe is doing well for its price. 37 lakh for 4WD AT in Karnataka is too much IMO but still people tend to put money for it because it looks attractive & feature packed, looks premium compared to Fortuner.
MAHINDRA - Fighting for 3rd spot with majority of sales coming for Bolero, Scorpio. XUV500 doing 2.5-3k despite having competition from MPVs like Innova and Compact SUVs like Duster & Terrano. Verito, Vibe, Xylo, Quanto, can be called flops. Not so good design might well be the reason for thier low sales. Mahindra should better discontinue them or redesign them completely.
MARUTI - Market Leader & Peoples Choice has excellent month after month. Led by strong sales from Top 4 highest selling cars (Alto, Swift, Dzire, WagonR) expect them to hold those positions forever. Good numbers from other cars like Celerio, Ciaz, Omni, Ertiga. Expect the numbers to rise further with updates/facelift etc.
MITSUBISHI - With a lone product 'Pajero Sport' it wouldn't be thinking of high numbers. Only way forward is to introduce a Hatch, Sedan, Premium Sedan, and bring in some of thier well known SUVs(Outlander, Montero). More products will surely give higher numbers then the 200 odd it sells today.
NISSAN - Apart from Terrano, rest of the cars are not selling. Sunny is competent but don't know why it isn't selling. Same with Micra which is priced well, has torquey diesel engine and efficient CVT gearbox and is packed with features. They should bring thier SUVs (Juke, Qashqai, XTrail) to compete in the hot selling segment in India.
RENAULT - Same story here too , Apart from Duster rest of them seem to be just present for product showcasing. Fluence has lost to its rivals since it was launched. Scala & Pulse remain dud and 0 units of Pulse despite offers surprises me whether Renault have decided to discontinue it.
SKODA - Despite having excellent products, thier car sales are nothing to smile about. Rapid is the lone contributor but it manages around 1k/ month which is less then its rivals Ciaz, City, Verna. Octavia waiting might put buyers off, Skoda hasn't been able to solve the problem since its launch in Late 2013. Superb is going Exceptionally well and lack of rivals might be the reason. Yeti would have sold more if they had prices it around 15-16 lakhs. But 25 lakh is too much. Not much is expected from them in the next 2-3 years. TATA - Again not much from them apart from Zest & Bolt. Nano isn't selling to thier expectation. Rumours are floating that it might be shelved if sales dont improve and i don't think it'll improve even if they launch Facelift/AMT/Diesel. The Rest of the cars sales are dismal to say the least. I am bit sceptical about Zest numbers. Why isn't it always hovering around 2.5-3k when its in good demand ? Lets hope Bolt does good numbers say around 5-6k in coming months.
TOYOTA - Thier most expensive offering (Innova, Fortuner, Corolla) are selling very well while Etios twins are hardly moving. Majority of sales are from fleet owners. Camry is doing reasonably well but diesel heart will make it still better. Toyota should bring Vios Sedan & Hatch and should position it above Etios Twins and compete with Verna & i20.
VOLKSWAGEN - Seems like thier plan has gone completely wrong. With such a huge plant the number of cars they sell is very low. Just Polo & Vento won't do it. They need to act quickly and bring Compact Sedan, SUV and bring more products that are feasible. Lets wait and watch thier strategy.
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Well deserved.. still am surprised to see how mobilio clocking 1000+. I hope Ertiga improves further, and pull down the sales of low quality mobilio