Indian Car Sales Figures - April 2012

April 2012 Sales Figures - Pan India

HIGHLIGHTS:
1)"When Maruti sneezes, the auto industry catches cold” – the statement stands true in any season! Maruti’s figures were the true reflection of the industry’s performance for April 2012. The Indian Auto Industry degrew by over 22% (Month-on-Month) whereas Maruti has de-grown by 20%. The reason still remains Maruti’s dominant market share and sheer size of its numbers (Maruti’s volume was an average 83000/mth in F12!).  

·        2) Alto’s numbers was at an all time low in past 6 months – with 17842 offtake. Alto had been the unbeaten no.1 of the charts since ages. A dip of 49.37% in Alto volumes M-o-M seems very gullible. The new king of the ring is the most loved Indian hatchback – Swift. With rationalized productions Maruti is not only earning volumes, but also finding place in many awaited Indian households. Seldom did anyone believe when Maruti had announced receiving more than a lakh bookings during its refresh launch. But the numbers speaks for itself.

·        3) Maruti did Dzire again! With a shorter boot, attractive price and the fact of being a 3-box car is working wonders for the brand. We Indians just love VALUE; we never get tired/bored with the same food being offered in different plates – IF it is ‘Value for Money’. With a number of 15510 figures, Dzire is whopping 9259 numbers ahead than the next highest selling sedan (i.e. Verna – 6251 nos).

·        4) 'The era of sedans is over’ – suddenly the fastest growing segment of the industry falls on its foot. These figures would need no explanation to prove the aforementioned point – Tata Indigo+Manza: 3669 nos. (degrowth of 55.76% m-o-m) & many more:

·        5) Nissan now loses its ‘Sunny’ side and ‘Micra’ doesn’t seem to do wonders as well. Rather its distant sibling Pulse has been able to steal Micra’s prospects for its more modern look and appeal. Renault’s small distribution network remains a concern and only an explosive expansion strategy could place it at a respectable position in F13.

·        6) People just seem to ‘LUV’ the new Ertiga (stands tall at 16^th spot with 5464 nos.). With over 15k bookings, and dynamic production line Maruti has created a whole new segment itself! If you thought that these figures would disturb Innova numbers, then you were totally wrong! The existing MPVs (Innova & Xylo) did their normal run without any dent on their numbers. The effect was rather seen on C-segment sedans.

·        7) Bolero – 6^th highest selling passenger car! (8205 nos.) We would get tired discussing its success; but the brand does not! Such a consistent performance is never seen in Automotive history. Even Nostradamus would fail predicting Bolero’s business cycle. Similar is the case with Maruti’s Omni – feat of 7321 offtake achieved just by selling a petrol variant! These old war horses have turned out to be cash cows for these OEMs.

·        8) Eon evolves as Hyundai’s top selling brand – a sweet spot for the OEM. But the purpose would be achieved, only when it matches Alto’s volumes – a distant dream, but quiet possible.

·        9) Rapid consistently overtakes Vento volumes. VW would surely not be happy with this.

·         Hyundai again rules the C+ segment with its Verna. It plans to extend its success with the new Sonata (but the volumes of 66 nos doesn’t speak so).

·        10) Fortuner – 1270 nos, XUV 500 – 3403 nos; I wonder how we manage to sell these with such ease. The volatility of Indian market amazes me with what it has to offer. And the love for SUV’s just seem impregnable.

·         Any predictions for May’12 ???  

A list of Top 20 Brands of the month -