[phreakv6]

Interestingly octavia has outsold the jetta though both have shipped a healthy number of units for the segment (293 vs 247). Either people have seen through the nip and tuck facelift of the jetta or the octavia is at last gearing up the meet the demand or both.

[rrsteer]

I think by year end Hyundai i20 elite may just outsell the mighty Swift.
The thing is, the kind of word of mouth I used to hear about Swift 3-4 years back, I hear the same for i20 Elite nowadays. Hyundai nailed it!

[ravradha]

March 2015 is the month of Honda.



Just see how City and Amaze have zoomed ahead of their competitors.

Watch this space. I guess this is the turning point in the fortunes of Honda in India.

[Seran Manian]

First of all thanks to Aditya for the pains taken to keep updating the monthly sales analysis.

Amazed to see Maruti's sales graph some where much above the rest of the competition (1 lakh + sales every month). Hyundai has managed to separate it self from the rest (40000 sales / month).

Good to see two Honda products in the top 20 list on a regular basis. That too City has managed well to sustain sales and looks to be better placed than Ciaz.

Ford looks to be thriving on Ecosport and Figo. I don't know where Renault is heading towards with Duster alone helping its survival.

Surprised to see that still Ariya sells 20+ every month. With so many positive reviews about Zest and Bolt, they are not doing very well.

Thanks again for the nice update.

[Dry Ice]

Surprised with Honda numbers.

City almost touches 10k! (Feb~6.5k)
Amaze at 8k! (Feb~7k)
Mobilio at 3k! (Feb~1.7k)

IIRC, there were some reports of capacity constraints which had forced them to reduce Amaze production to accommodate Mobilio. Have they overcome these?

Or did the dealers get these billed ahead of the new financial year to take benefit from any price increase post March 31st?

[GetLife]

March is turning out to be interesting.
Interesting turning point to watch out: i20 catching up with Swift, very close. What does MSIL have up their sleeve to counter this, is worth watching.
Also, across most models suddenly Honda's volumes have picked up while MSIL's have declined.

[advaitlele]

What a waste Tata has done with its segment leader once upon a time.
Safari + Storme with 426 is not even 10% of Scorpio with 5250 - its direct competition.
What was otherwise a ruler, is now in shambles. Thanks tata motors for making a great vehicle a

And what about Aria? Such a promising vehicle when it was displayed in Delhi AutoExpo a few years back and when it was launched. 22? Really?

These two can make classic case studies on what NOT to do with product launches.

[venkats2001]

Any thoughts on why the Xcent is not selling as much as the Amaze? It seems to be a far better product (feature-laden interiors, aggressive pricing, and Hyundai's reliability and ASS?

[rsm97]

Among top 5, Honda's aggregate volume has jumped up by 34%. For rest, its either modest increase or decline. With all products (except CRV) contributing to the increase for Honda, it may well be the year-end push for dealers. Next month will bring clarity on this.

In the chart, Sunny has been placed in C1 category. Feel it should be in C2.

[CPJ]

A superb March for Honda. From No 4 to No 3 with 9.48% market share.
The Diesel engine has completely transformed Honda's fortune. The City is out selling the Hyundai's updated Verna as well as Maruti Suzuki Ciaz by a great margin and not only that it is selling more than Verna+Ciaz combined. Great going Honda!

On the other hand Hyundai's i20 elite seems to be unstoppable and with the way people are going crazy for this car, soon it might over take the mighty Swift. A sure wake up call for Maruti.

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by venkats2001

Any thoughts on why the Xcent is not doing well? It seems to be a better package as compared to the Amaze (feature-laden interiors, aggressive pricing, and Hyundai's ASS)

That's because fans of a brand will always buy a car of that same brand. Such buyers are possibly fans of Honda and have 7.xx lacs as the spend limit, so Amaze is the best Honda car within that budget. Brio has literally no storage space so its possible that people who like it but want a little more storage capacity will turn to Amaze.

Hyundai buyers on the other hand who have the same 7.xx lacs spending limit might walk in and decide between Xcent & i20, and it appears more people are preferring the i20. Xcent is the better car to drive though.

Moving towards my thoughts on the current sales trend, its quite evident that Fiat's best shot at giving a makeover to Punto has failed, I certainly liked the smaller more simpler headlight styling of the previous Punto though the interiors of the current Evo is best in class. Is it possible people haven't accepted it for its front façade? Fiat should certainly do better, its ride & handling is miles better than VW/Skoda and even in build quality it puts those 2 brands to shame. A few more tweaks like improving its vague gearshift & lowering the steering stance should certainly help its cause. Sometimes attacking the pain points is all that it takes.

Hyundai worked very hard to gain foothold in India with unquestionable value both during buying & maintaining. I never expected such success for the Elite, personally I didn't like the vehicle too much. The Grand i10 was built to be the Swift killer but it turns out that i20 had other plans. The elephant in the room is the ever deteriorating service levels (personal experience) and rising costs. Don't try to fly before you learn to jump Hyundai.

Suzuki still the juggernaut for now, enough said.

Nissan, Renault & Datsun - research the term visual differentiation. That means you too, VW/Skoda

[LoneRidder]

Very surprising to see Go+ doubling its figures in March ’15! However, Go has cut into half compared to its previous month. Honda City is definitely in the Bull Run. It has increased it hold by 3k more MoM. Mobilio too has doubled!

While Bolero has been steady in its market hold, Scorpio has been giving M&M its consistence in the range of 5k every month. For Maruti, Ciaz has been giving a mixed feeling. Not too happy not too bad! Otherwise, their stable of Alto, Dzire, Eeco, Ertiga, Swift and WagonR and even Omni has been giving a jolly ride!

Like always Duster is steady at 3k number. Otherwise no remarked change in Renault.
The big disappointment though is for TATA, Bolt has not been giving the desired numbers and so is Zest. Still Dzire and Amaze rule the roost! However, thankfully Zest and Bolt have not cannibalized into Indica/ Manza. Their numbers are as is!

[nkghai]

More than 15000 Wagon R sold in the month.
Wow!!
For a vehicle that was first introduced 15 years ago and although refreshed it continues to still sell like Hot Cakes ( more numbers than all TATA cars combined).
That is what is called a value for money offering in the Indian concept.

[amit@kumar]

Originally Posted by venkats2001

Any thoughts on why the Xcent is not selling as much as the Amaze? It seems to be a far better product (feature-laden interiors, aggressive pricing, and Hyundai's reliability and ASS?

It clearly indicates that Compact sedan segment buyers prefer powerful engine (1.5 L Diesel) and mileage over features. Provided other parameters like ASS,space, pricing and brand perception are alike.

It will be interesting to see the impact of Ford Aspire sales in Compact sedan segment.

[Nitthari]

I am impressed with Honda's performance here. Not a big difference between City and Amaze numbers and that speaks in itself. Wonder if we could get the split up between the Petrol and Diesel sales. Mobilio is back at 3k levels. Not sure if this is a case of the EOY numbers or if it will sustain these numbers, time will surely tell.

Clearly with "better pricing", "overall value", "loaded with features" factors are not seem to be working for the Xcents and Zests. Wonder what could be the reason - perception, image or the just the product?

Whats with the Verna? is it because of the updated version launch? Would love to see the Verna doing good numbers. And as for the i20, got to see/feel/TD both the Elite and the Active version this weekend. Simple Reaction - Wow! You beauties. I want at least one of the models of Maruti starting to feel the heat and I believe the i20 has that in plenty.