Indian Car Sales Figures - November 2013

November 2013 Sales Figures - Pan India

Highlights –

November was nothing but ‘From Diwali to Diwala’ situation for all Automobile OEMs. While the first week of the month saw tremendous traction in terms of retails, the month has particularly been disappointing in terms of offtake. Majority of the customers have surely postponed their purchase decision expecting hefty discounts at year-end. December will be the most crucial month of the year for the Auto Industry – it is gonna decide the longevity of the slowdown in Auto sales and will clearly signal recovery/degrowth.

·       *Country’s biggest automaker – Maruti Suzuki witnessed 5.9% degrowth YOY in domestic offtake and has particularly lost in Wagon R, Ertiga & Swift sales. The Wagon-R could not ‘sting’ competition with its offering Stingray. However, Alto emerged strong in the month and was able to touch 23k mark.

·         There has been a tremendous spurt in the marketing budgets of Maruti – it clearly signifies that the industry is in turbulent times when the Market Leader has to shell out hefty bucks for promotions. Never in my life have I seen Maruti advertising so much!

·      * The Korean major cannot celebrate its ‘grand’ success due to the cannibalization woes. While the OEM has been commendable to sync its production levels of i10 grand to match the demand – the steep decline in i10 & i20 sales has been unwelcoming. Verna too is slowly saturating – need to uplift the brand.  Surprisingly Santa Fe registers its best offtake post July’12!

·        * Ford continues its dream run – but the focus on the Indian market requirement has been disappointing. It is a shame that a customer has to wait upto 1 year for a car even as worth as Ecosport. Ford needs to realize that form is temporary in today’s volatile market and should avail as many cars in market as possible to gain market share. Figo & Fiesta continue their sorry performance in Nov’13.

·         *Honda’s performance makes us forget the market scenario and forces to think on how a right product at the right price and at the right time can be instrumental for the company’s success. ‘Amaze’ing, isn’t it J

·     *GM announces the re-incarnation of Tavera with a bang – the figures easily shoots to ~1.3k figures. However, its MPV sibling Enjoy faces the heat and drops to below 1.5k units.

 ·         The Indian brands – M&M and Tata face the fiercest brunt. New products from their stable seems to be the only respite for these brands.

A look at the top 20 cars of the month –