Amazingly Amaze!

With the low sentiments in industry, there comes in a catalyst to galvanize fortunes for the Japanese car maker and certainly will effect auto industry in a good way. Honda entered the Indian auto market way back in 1998 and since then we have liked almost every single offering from them. Ain't we? We rely on the Honda brand certainly because of its benchmark petrol engine and the prestige it gets along.

Now it’s time for Honda to love us back (The brio concept) and amaze us with its diesel offering. Since past few weeks Honda amaze is the buzz of the town. Looking at the exterior of the car in the first place itself you like it because of its congruous proportions. It makes you believe that it’s a sedan, not a boot attached with a hatchback. The front chrome grill distinguishes it from the brio and fog lamp sculpture on the bumper makes it look wide. The chisel streak on the side gives it some character and at the back tail lamps gives a hint of derivation from Honda city.  As you step inside interiors are taken straight from brio without any tweaks, which is a bit of let down. The real differences when you sit behind you never get a feeling that you are in a sub 4 meter saloon. Be it under thigh support or head room it’s the best in the class.  And 400lt boot again impresses you with space Honda has carved in with its proportionate designing.

Under the bonnet is the 1.5litre diesel engine which is a result of Honda’s Earth dreams Technology. It churns out 98bhp and 200NM of torque and above all it gets pretty friendly on your pocket with 25.8km/lt of fuel. As the commercial says you are eating chips and are not getting fat. Right on the money, you get the power and the mileage both best in the segment. Honda uses very special engine oil called 3D engine oil and honestly we don’t have much to say about it since they are Japanese.

Now when you drive the car it is smooth as expected, comfortable but not quite as expected. And the surprising part is when you turn ignition off the car shakes violently which remains a concern. It’s these small bits that effects a great deal. Since Honda has got almost everything right. Now with aggressive pricing for a product like this, it is bound to keep Honda busy running on full capacity and its showrooms crowded for a while. Moreover it will make other car makers busy either trying to justify their counter parts or developing strategy for the new ones.

The entry level sedan from Honda’s stable which would “Badlegi Honda ki Duniya!”. The much awaited FIRST diesel offering from the Japanese major has put Honda back into the race and has left nothing to Desire J

(Author - Anshul Chawla - Is an automobile enthusiast who love and live cars! Can be ignited at anshul_chawla@live.com)

Indian Car Sales Figures - April 2013

April 2013 Sales Figures - Pan India

HIGHLIGHTS:

Source: ET

·         Let’s all observe two minutes silence considering the debacle Industry has observed in April 2013. The race to put forward a respectable score for F13 (April 2012-March 2013) had led most of the OEM’s to push maximum number of vehicles to dealers in March 2013. The ripple effect was seen immediately in April – these are the brands who experienced their worst offtake figures in last 6 months or even a year in many cases! – Chevy (Spark, Beat, Captiva), Ford (Figo), Mitsubishi (Pajero Sport), Honda (Brio, Accord), Hyundai (Accent, Elantra, Santa Fe), Mahindra (Verito, Quanto, Xylo, XUV 500), Maruti (Alto, Ertiga, A-star), Nisaan (Micra, Evalia, Sunny), Renault (Fluence, Pulse, Scala, Koleos), Skoda (Fabia, Superb), Tata (Nano, Indigo+Manza, Safari+Storme), Toyota (Liva, Innova), VW (Vento, Passat).

·         Ufff, the list was never ending. If you observe, there ain’t a single OEM which has escaped the tide. The blue-eyed brands - be it the from Ertiga to XUV500, or Innova to Elantra have taken a hit. The only respite being the stellar performance of the newcomers – Sail sedan is slowly gaining ground and Honda has literally AMAZEd us all! The mantra for 2013-2014 is quiet simple – it’s not ‘Only the best survive’; but it is ‘only the NEWest survive!’. Novelty is the need of the hour and the OEMs with the new product in the kitty would have a significant advantage over competition. A glance on the upcoming products of the year which are set to change the game for the respective OEMs – Ford Ecosport, Chevrolet Enjoy, Mahindra Verito Vibe, Tata Nano Diesel, Manza CS, Skoda Octavia, Mercedes A-class, CLA, etc

·         For April 2013, domestic sales of Maruti Suzuki amounted to 90,523 units, a marginal rise over the 90,255 units it sold in April 2012. This was led by the ‘Dzire’able performance of its swift sibling. The brand has launched a mega campaign across 30 cities – Dzire Mileage Rally to fight for its turf against Amaze. Also a special top-end variant ‘REGAL’ was launched to up the premiumness of the brand. Its new found LUV has shown signs of distress – the brand Ertiga which was hovering around average ~7k nos has dropped to ~5.1l figures. The A-star has lost its sheen. Even the Alto figures left much to desire for!

·         Hyundai has shown strength in its character by growing significantly in tough times. The Korean auto major reported 4.30 per cent rise in total sales at 56,954 units in April 2013. Eon & i10 are contributing steadily and the petrol price rationalization has helped the brands. i20 figures average has seen a dip, can we call it an AMAZing effect? Verna repeatedly delivers its fluidic performance! Accent is in its last stages of the life cycle. However, it is interesting to note the consistency of Sonata volumes – 20 nos repeatedly from past 8 months!

·         The third largest auto maker had a real tough time – its flagship XUV 500 saw a 29% drop in Month-on-Month offtake volumes. Is this the sign of the cheetah slowing down? Verito again proves its name wrong – how can a product with such ability & truth fall? Who could imagine that its distant sibling – the Duster with the same engine and similar interiors has become the largest selling SUV! Quanto on the other hand seems living the weekend life and is not being accepted by the people who consider the weekdays more important! The elder brother Xylo also had a meek month and the platform volumes has seen a considerable dip in overall. Has the Igatpuri strike taken a toll on the volumes?

·         Bolero proves again why it is the most loved SUV of the country with an easy 9766 figure. Scorpio also establishes on the reason for it being the most feared SUV with reliable 4.4k mark.  

·         Tata Motors jump back to 4^th place as a part of the fate and not design. Thanks to TKM for the 37% degrowth and allowing Tata Motors the position. Indica+Vista brand seemed to supported the OEM by contributing to 50% of the OEM volumes. Sumo which was averaging @ 2.8k figures at one time has gone down drastically to 1.7k volume. Storme wasn’t able to bring any kind of storm in the market. Aria & Nano have become perfect examples of how not to market / price an excellent product!

·         Toyota registers a 37 per cent sales decline in April 2013. The company sold 9,007 units in the domestic market in April 2013 as compared to 14,378 units in the corresponding month in 2012. This was heavily attributed to the decline in its Innova volumes. No reason to be surprised here! – the brand has touched 8.4k in March’13 and hence the rationalization HAD to happen in April. Etios siblings contribute equally to the decline – the refreshed avatar haven’t changed much for the brands. Fortuner still remains strong with over a 1.1k mark.

·          Honda experiences an AMAZing comeback. The OEM has left no stone unturned in terms of marketing its FIRST diesel offering in the sub-continent. With over 22000 bookings within weeks of its launch, it surely has left nightmares amongst its competition - right from Manza to Dzire!

·         ‘Make the right move’ my friend – says Fiat India. But the customer yet again is not moving towards the potent brands. Punto & Linea still suffer from low acceptance in the market.

·         With over 80% of Renault volumes being achieved through Duster sales; it becomes pretty evident how a single RIGHT product can change the OEMs fortune. The brand has surprised us all and has easily become the most accepted SUV for the year.

List of Top 20 Brands of the month –

TOP 20 Selling Cars

Indian Car Sales Figures - March 2013

March 2013 Sales Figures - Pan India

HIGHLIGHTS:

Source : Business Line

·         Levying heavy tax would discourage the acceptance of the road-occupying, extra-polluting SUV’s? Mr. Chidabaram – Indian consumer has outrightly snubbed your decision. The SUV sales figure for the month of Mar’13 would shame the Finance Minister. This not only proves that the SUV’s still enjoy the equity of higher value proposition among Indian car buyers, but also highlights that the SUV-craze is here to stay. Bolero, Fortuner & Innova registered their all-time best sales figures. Scorpio, Pajero Sport, Rexton, Xylo & Sumo performed abover average as well!

·         March 2013 had an another advantage – lot of customers purchasing the vehicles for depreciation purpose. Also all OEM’s had to achieve the Financial Year targets as well. This was the last chance for these OEMs to ramp up the offtake numbers to project a happy picture for the FY. See the stock value of OEM’s rising based on the financial years performance? I bet Yes.

·         However, in concise for F13 – Indian Automobile Industry has been in one of the most difficult times. We have seen the most promising OEMs (name Tata, GM, etc) tumbling in their sales charts and the market has aptly thought a lesson – ADAPT & EVOLVE is the key and being agile is the need of the hour. The growth trajectory of every OEM was dependant on having an exciting NEW offering in the portfolio – the product being a SUV/MUV can be the icing on the cake.

·         “The slowdown of economy is impacting vehicle sales. Against large base of last year, there was a sharp drop in conversion of enquiries in the absence of any positive stimulus andsentiments," HMIL Vice President (Sales and Marketing) Rakesh Srivastava said. Any proof on why Indians are termed ‘sentimental’? Yes, negative sentiments can shake an entire industry in the country. The point to be noted is decline in Enquiry levels and also poor conversion ratio of the received enquiries.

·         Maruti Suzuki – Can you believe that Maruti Suzuki posted a de-growth after selling 1.19 Lakh units (including exports)? The situation would have been worse if the UV portfolio wouldn’t have been introduced with Ertiga. The Life Utility Vehicle has proved to be the life-line for MS. Ertiga clocked >6k numbers after a long time. Maruti introduced discounts for the first time for the star model. Dzire exceeding the offtake numbers of Swift – this was predicted well before. Value consciousness has gone to a different level. The increase can also be attributed for MS focus on increasing Dzire supplies in lieu of the launch of Honda’s Amaze. Alto creates a new benchmark in the industry - It's been only four months (124 days to be precise) that Maruti Suzuki launched the all new Alto 800, and the model sold over 1 Lakh units. Wagon R, Alto, Ritz volumes prove that petrol models have regained traction and still can emerge victorious.

·         Hyundai had a lackluster performance – with extensive promotion and schemes i10,Eon, Santro, i20 & Verna had average numbers. To mark crossing of 12 lakh sales worldwide of the model Hyundai launched a special edition of i10 (i Tech). Santro had a surprise to offer – with over 4k numbers sold, the model had its best volumes in past 6 months.

·         M&M had its own set of highs and lows – while Bolero clocking its ever highest billing volumes, Quanto & XUV 500 saw its 3 consistent decline in past 3 months. The volumes of Quanto went below Xylo’s number – not exactly a good sign. XUV 500 had a earnest recall for replacing some parts and was appreciated by all – but did it affect the new customer confidence? The decline in its volumes posed a serious concern for the OEM. Rexton offtake figures were laudable – the brand has gained respectable volumes of over 450 numbers consistently and has proved to be a worthy opponent to the mighty Fortuner.

·         Toyota surprised us all – Over 8k figures for Innova proved that the new kids in the block (say Duster, Ertiga or XUV) couldn’t shake the old stalwart. Fortuner had a mean smile for the increased excise duty – over 1.7k numbers for the premium SUV is just WOW (the volumes are higher than its half priced Storme!). 30 nos. for Landcruiser – It happens only in India J The upgraded Etios and Liva siblings ensured 70% & 129% growth month-on-month for the brands respectively.

·         Amaze is the new mantra for Honda. The OEM just amaze’d us all with its stellar performance among all brands. Brio, City & Accord had its best offtake in past 6 months. However, the news of discontinuing Jazz & Civic was a blow to Honda lovers. But, the invent of diesel engine is the day we all were waiting for. Honda is ensuring its leaves no stone unturned in terms of promoting its new baby – iDtec diesel engine. 2552 nos of Amaze has already been shipped to all dealers (launch scheduled on April 11). The product is expected to turn the fortunes for the auto maker – and promos speak for itself.

·         Renault has Dusted off the competition in the right spirit – Duster, Fluence & Scala have their best till date offtake figures. The OEM has started off in the perfect dream fashion.

List of Top 20 Brands of the month -

Could Scorpio's new commercial been better?

The new ad shows the mighty muscular saving the day! That too in the night ;) It is first time the brand has not emphasized on the 'Nothing else will do' philosophy. The ad is more focused on projecting the off-roading traits of the car and shouts of being the bully to the sports coupe. Storyline does not have anything new to offer and is very predictable! The shots are badly taken and the light projected from the headlamps seem all animated. This is what I'm talking about -

The ad looks something like this (Director's cut) -



Mahindra Scorpio's ad have always been famous for its flashy, flamboyant style and had a certain amount of class in it. The brand communication was very clear - "a vehicle of class over substance" and made it a car of  desire rather than a mode of transportation. Who could forget this ad -



However, we love to see the TVC from the brand after a longgg time and wished to have retained the 'Nothing else will do' philosophy. Lets hope the Scorpio fans love the ad and the ad helps the brand get more fans :)

Indian Car Sales Figures - February 2013

February 2013 Sales Figures - Pan India

HIGHLIGHTS:

·         1) Although the Budget 2013 was held at the fag end of the month and had nothing much impact on the sales figures, but it did shock the Automobile fraternity. The reeling industry was seeking rebate from the Government and the got disappointment in return. We had a new learning in February – “SUVs occupy greater road and parking space and ought to bear a higher tax.”! Mr. Finance Minister – With this philosophy, the taxes for buses should have been much higher. We do not see a reason on investing heavily in JNNURM as well.

·         2) Renault and M&M emerged the lone 2 companies who posted growth in the month. The chartbusters of the OEM’s portfolio were the ‘road-occupying’ SUV’s.

·         3) Maruti Suzuki misses the 1Lakh mark with a 2k odd whisker. The Alto figures seems stabilizing at the 23k-25k numbers. The Swift, Dzire and the Ertiga trio repeated their stellar performance. Both Swift & Dzire registered their best offtake figures for past 9 months. The gap between the two brands is reducing and we wouldn’t be surprised to see Dzire equaling or even overtaking Swift figures in some month. Ertiga has successfully put Maruti in MUV roadmap and would be interesting to see if the Excise hike affects the brand. The Wagon-R facelift has considerably contributed to the OEM’s numbers. SX4 does dismal numbers – heard about the upcoming facelift? A-star & Estilo still stumble – time to bring better products in the same platform?

·         4) Hyundai – ‘The culture of Fluidic Sculpture’ has worked wonders for the Korean automaker. Elantra & Verna maintain their leadership spots in the respective segments. Eon, i10 & i20 contribute decently. The performance of petrol only models seems encouraging (Eon, Santro & i10). It is also time for Hyundai to lauch the new Santa Fe – Indian market should be treated with priority.

·         5) M&M amazes the fraternity yet again! With a 13.8% growth in the gloomy month; the share prices did see the upward trend on 1 March (after the debacle post budget announcement). Bolero impresses all with its consistent numbers – the Brand crosses the 1 Lakh figure for F-13 with a month to spare. However, the variation in Scorpio & XUV 500 stats is a concern – any slowdown in these brands would impact the OEM significantly. Xylo & Verito fails to impress – can anyone tell what went wrong with these potent brands? Quanto dips to 2k level – has it started living its weekend life?

·         6) Mahindra Ssangyong wouldn’t have had a better start than this – registering 476 offtake with availability is select cities is no easy task. Rexton has proved to be the perfect launch model in India for the duo. With increased availability, we expect aggressive promotion of the brand in March’13.

·         7) As predicted earlier, Toyota pips Tata of its fourth slot. With stellar numbers from Innova & Fortuner, the Jap major continues its dream run. But can it sustain? I doubt. Etios & Liva has to be re-jigged to  gain the required momentum. Learn from your Japanese counterpart (Suzuki) – any compromise in the product would kill the brand. Cost-cutting in the name of ‘India’nizing the product is a major let down. Instead build quality products and export to the first grade countries (Europe) would be a much better strategy!

·         8) Tata Motors is in its saddest phase ever. With over 74% de-growth the automaker is in the most challenging time of its history. This is the junction where Mr. Cyrus Mistry can prove himself and build his legacy. We all remember, how Mr. Ratan Tata pulled Tata group from the murk and gained the credibility. We expect something similar from the new flag-bearer – say why not bring a brand like Scorpio (which did wonders to M&M). It is high time the company dawns its thinking hats and start working in the right direction. It is the time to stay confident and the same time apprised of the situation.

·         9) Ford – Are we even interested to discuss anything else than Ecosport J With the lauch just round the corner – the marketing campaign have flew off with style. The ‘Urban Discoveries’ is a great way to connect with its audience. All the time we thought that only offroad trails and off-city travel was suitable for SUV’s. Ecosport just wants to change that!

·        10) The only product which has been consistent in GM’s portfolio is ‘______’. Any guesses? It is Tavera. The old workhorse is loyally serving the automaker. Sail Sedan seems a value offering, but the numbers are not that great. U-VA dips just within 4 months of its launch.

Snapshot of the Budget implications on the Indian Auto Industry –

Ø  Excise duty on SUV’s hiked from 27 to 30%.

Ø  High-end customers for imported luxury cars to shell out higher with the FM’s decision to increase the duty on CBUs to 100% (up from 75%). Effective levies thus go up to about 160% for CBUs.

Ø  Duty on high capacity motorcycles (800cc or more) has been increased to 75% (from the existing 60%).

Ø  Subsidy benefits for electric cars remain in place till 31st March 2015. Expecting Mahindra e2o launch round the corner?

Ø  The duty on second hand vehicles has been raised to 125% (from 100%).

Ø  The allocation for JNNURM is proposed to go up to Rs 14,873 crore from the Rs 7,383 crore provided this year (see smiling faces of executives from Tata Motors & Ashok Leyland).

List of Top 20 Brands of the month -

WILD VOYAGE - XUV500 New TV Ad

This ad was truly 'full of stories'! M&M has put forward some real creative, path-breaking ads in recent times. 'Live Young, Live Free' (LYLF) has created a revelation among youth and has become a viral hit the moment it was ed online. It has become nothing less than an Anthem for the Indian automaker.

The message in all the recent ads has strong communique about offroading, distant travelling, fun, frolic and most importantly the target group - 'Youth'. Be it Quanto, LYLF or the new XUV ad - weekend drive, re-union at an exotic locale, quick African safari among a bunch of friends - the message has been neatly put to attract the target segment and differentiate itself.



The ad is about 3 young buddies who decide to go on a Wild African Voyage! The setting is clearly of a memorable journey, which is quite relatable to the current generation. The background song aptly creates the mood and indulge its audience into the ad. XUV 500 has been beautifully shot - both on road and offroad! Features like AWD, GPS navigation and ABS has been placed intelligently.

The surprise is the ending! The twist element just takes the ad to another level.

M&M - Don't be surprised to get many Silver XUV bookings post the release of the ad. And hats off to the creative team for getting the communique back to its roots. We just can't describe how disgusted and off-track the earlier ad was!

We also wonder how a MH 14 vehicle found its way in Africa :) May your life be full of stories!

Indian Car Sales Figures - January 2013

January 2013 Sales Figures - Pan India

HIGHLIGHTS:

·         1. Perfect way to start the year! The dealers open heartedly billed vehicles from the OEMs and are fairly stocked up. The marginal increase in prices did not affect the new car buyers and the sentiment also rose after the announcement in decrease in car loan rates from major financers. January 2013 did not see any major launches though, but the industry has mega launches in pipeline in coming months (say Chevy Sail Sedan, Ford Ecosport, Mahindra E2O, Mahindra compact Verito, New Honda CR-V, Chevy Enjoy, Honda Amaze, Skoda Octavia, and more)

·         2. With 44.75% market share in the Indian Automobile Industry, Maruti proves time and again that no matter which OEM steps in the Indian soil – Maruti Suzuki would lead from the top. The efforts by the auto maker to magnanimously increase the production of its in-demand Swift and Dzire is paying out well. The strategy to update its models which were losing sheen over time – Alto 800 to Wagon-R has also reaped excellent benefits. Both Alto 800 with 28685 units achieved its highest offtake figures in FY 2013! The case was similar with the new Wagon-R achieving its second highest offtake numbers for the financial year.

·         3. SX4 touched the 4-figure mark after 9 longggg months. The increase in numbers is unexpected as an updated version is on the cards. Ritz fails to lure customers even after offering minor facelift and AT variant. Is the Swift availability luring away the Ritz customers? MS also seems to have completely liquidated its Kizashi stocks, as the offtake is nil in Jan. Ertiga fairly contributes with a ~6k mark.

·         4. ‘New Thinking, New Possibilities’ – the tagline was suitably brought to life by the Korean Auto major. Who has expected that the hatchback car maker would successfully raise new benchmarks in luxury sedan market. Verna & Elantra consistently emerge to be its segment leaders. With the billing of 5066 units and 488 units, Verna & Elantra have surely garnered new possibilities for the OEM.

·         5. i20 figures again overtake i10 volumes. It happens only in India! The market simply defies the price-volume phenomena. If you offer VALUE with your brand; achieving numbers won’t be difficult. Hyundai products are an perfect examples for the statement. (i20 volumes > i10 volumes > Eon volumes). And the catch is all the 3 products are performing well in their segments!

·         6. “Live Young, Live Free” – the mantra comes at a very apt time! Both the ad and the cars by the OEM is a craze among the youth. Scorpio has resurged to 4.4k levels and has in a way proved that nothing else will do! The OEM also seems to stabilize the XUV 500 volumes to ~4k mark. However, the point to be appreciated is the Xylo platform volumes – 2100 numbers of Xylo + 2954 numbers of Quanto = 5054 units. It is a perfect example for ‘Alternative Thinking’!

·         7. As mentioned earlier, ‘VALUE’ not ‘PRICE’ is the key to success in Indian Auto market – Bolero numbers is the testimony to it. The brand unmistakably makes it again within the top 5 charts and also exceeds the 10k mark.

·         8. I believe Tata Motors is not able to withstand the absence of the legendary Mr. Ratan Tata. Dec’12 & Jan’13 have proven to be the worst performing months for the passenger car maker. With a YoY degrowth of 56%, the auto maker is stranded in serious trouble at the moment. Its flagship models – Indica & Indigo series have flat growth and the Nano fails to impress. The Safari Storme is the only silver lining with the brand touching the 2k mark after a very very very long time.

·         9. Toyota & Renault remain the car makers who survive from their wonder products – Innova & Fortuner for Toyota, Duster for Renault. Can we imagine the fate of these OEMs without these so called ‘wonder products’ ?

·         10. Innova religiously performs and touches the 6k mark consistently for the second time. Even Fortuner achieves its all-time highest offtake of 1505 units!

·         11. Duster phenomena seems to have slowed down. With ~900 unit fall from Dec’12 figures, the volumes raises questions on the consistency of the brand.

·         12. With several feature update and aggressive campaign, Polo resurges to 4.5k mark. The sales numbers of the brand are equally delightful as its new ads. The case is similar for its sibling Vento.

·         13. Sunny is the only saving grace for its parent Nissan. With 2456 units the brand surely shows its sunny side.

   14. ‘The comeback kid’ – I’ll save it for the launch of Amaze. Honda surely seems to gained well and the sentiments are high for the automaker. City & Brio garner 2898 & 2336 units respectively. Just imagine the availability of a diesel option on these cars! The Japanese car maker is also set to launch its new CR-V this Feb. Good Luck Honda!

List of Top 20 Brands of the month -