Indian Car Sales Figures - July 2012

July 2012 Sales Figures - Pan India

HIGHLIGHTS:

·     1) Maruti Suzuki approaching Vaastu consultants to solve Manesar problem – the situation rightly requires so! The nation’s biggest automaker is facing one of the worst labor issues in the Indian manufacturing scene. The losses is in tune of crores and has not only affected MS, but has also made foreign investors reconsider to enter/invest in India. Manesar’s produce – Swift & Dzire has been worst hit with reduction in their offtake. The figures for Aug’12 would be still shoddier! (An unconfirmed news also mentions that the sprawling 600 acres of land on which the Manesar plant has been constructed, is said to have once served as a Muslim burial ground. Three temples, which existed in the 600 acres were demolished to set up the plant. – I wonder how this news have surfaced at this point of time J )

·     2) However, the positive for MS has been its LUV (Life Utility Vehicle) – Ertiga. It should be better named as LSV (Life Saving Vehicle – especially for Maruti!). Ertiga has clocked its highest offtake till date with 7091 numbers. It is growing stronger month-on-month and we wouldn’t be surprised to see it in the Top 5 within next 2 months.

·     3) Eeco volumes have gone down scaringly low. It is appalling to see how a vehicle grossing an average of 4.5k numbers have come down to 930 nos! Even the A-star fares worse than the 800 (A-star: 583 nos vs Maruti 800: 1411 nos!). The real disappointment has been SX4 – 679 offtake for this capable product is just not digestable.

·     4) Tata is seriously hurt – M&M overtaking Tata for the 3^rd position in the passenger car market during June’12 is a stern indication on how Tata could lose its position if not acted quick. However, the response from Tata is satisfactory for the moment – Sumo Indica family & Indigo family contributing for the majority numbers. Sumo Gold has again been a trump card for Tata in gaining the numbers in UV segment. The hatchback & sedan market seems too volatile – Hence, would Tata be able to sustain with the Indica & Indigo productline? I assume not – with a new compact SUV from M&M on the cards, we wouldn’t be shocked to see M&M permanently overtaking Tata in passenger car market. The solidarity in SUV growth has also backed M&M as of now.

·     5) Who could have predicted that Verna sale could be higher than Santro/Eon sales an year back! That exactly exhibits the shift in today’s consumer preference – a product can perform exceedingly well if it could exemplify “Value for money”. This holds true for vehicles in all categories! – Just imagine BMW bagging over 500 bookings for its new 3-series even before its launch.. Even Audi had achieved similar feat with its Q3 – achieved 500 booking within 5 days of its launch.

·     6) One always wonders – where does all these Boleros go??? That’s the power of Rural India. Bolero never fails to impress us with its consistency. It would be the only product in the Indian Automotive history to date to exude such popularity & acceptance – the same is evident in its sales numbers, month-on-month!

·     7) XUV500 in Top 20? YES! With production ramping up, don’t be surprised to see it surpass Scorpio’s number as well. With the opening of bookings all India, the product has garnered similar euphoria what it had achieved during its initial launch!

·     8) Indians just love NOVELTY – don’t believe me? Then take this – 12000 bookings for the newly launched Duster. The love for SUVs has again gripped Indian consumers – Duster just hitting the sweet spot. The next challenge is to ramp up supply as per demand and also expand its (Renault) dealer network.

·     9) Honda again is inconsistent – hence too difficult to rightly asses its performance.

·     10) Skoda is on a spree to reduce its dealers stocks – the number exactly explains the point with over 50% degrowth M-o-M. However, Fabia is reeling to maintain required volumes – not deserved for a product this well.

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