[shancz]

Here are mine, following the predictions format

• VW/Skoda with their India 2.0 strategy will make a resounding comeback.
• Tata will keep growing in creds with Altroz Turbo and Gravitas and good sales with HBX
• Hyundai/Kia will start stabilizing their sales and will end the year with lower sales than they started with. Quality and maintenance issues will dent their image/sales a bit
• Mahindra will storm the market with the new XUV500 and the Scorpio. XUV400/equivalent might also show its face this year.
• Maruti will keep enjoying their numbers, with minor facelifts. Might see a peek of the planned MSUV with Toyota.
• Ford might showcase some new product but more likely they will provide discounts to boost sales of existing.
• FCA/Jeep will keep doing what it does best, the 7 seater Compass might not make it this year.
• Honda will see their sales slowing down. The BR-V/Jazz will slow down further questioning their relevance in the market. The City will see a slowdown towards the later half after the launch of the new Vento/Rapid.
• Toyota don't have a lot happening this year except for the co-dev with MSIL.
• Nissan will see further sales of the Magnite but towards the end the sales will plateau/decline after the HBX launch
• MG/SAIC will be pushing the same models with slightly dwindling numbers till the ZS is launched but not this year.

Writing this over today's newspaper which has this front-page.

[sramanat]

Originally Posted by ajmat

Citroen

Might do reasonably well, it will be a niche, gadget laden soft riding mediocre driving machine. But Indians love this kind of thing!

I think that's a lesson all manufacturers should take to heart. City driving hardly requires a powerful engine/transmission combo in India. Most drivers are sedate in the highways too. A good point A to point B car with interior creature comforts is what I personally would love to see. Stuff like sunroof, rear view/360 cams, 2+ airbags, a navigation system for Indian roads and spacious enough for a family of 4 with occasional 3 hour trips with grand parents. Add to that pricing - corporate leases in metros usually have a price cap based on pay grade. I have seen my favorite cars fall just north of such price limitations. I am sure the price is right and I can afford it, but can't get past my company's accountants.

[Annibaddh]

What a cool thread!

Here's mine:

Tata: will be the big winner of 2021. HBX will of course put up a serious fight taking their monthly numbers to over 30K. Gravitas and not XUV500 will be the barge of the year and will see surprisingly good interest. Altroz may see limited editions (Nexon spec diesel?) which will further spice-up the car. Hexa will reappear and the niche car will continue its legacy of fanboys lost in a crowd. The only car that will need support in the Tata stable will be the Nexon as competition picks up pace. I won't be surprised if Tatas end the year nearer 35K average and see one of their lot consistently doing 10K numbers.

Volkswagen: Taigun and Virtus will disappoint. VW will get both the product and the pricing wrong. VW is rapidly becoming the cheaper feeling family brand even internationally (T-roc, T-cross consistently getting poorer interiors and quality vs their Skoda and even Seat counterparts). Enthusiasts will abandon VW for Skodas.

Skoda: Vision IN will compete. And seriously. Hyundai and Kia would finally have competition headache as Skoda will outdo them on both the badge and the car (quality not features) and match them on pricing. Octavia will be their most successful model. In fact expect the premium Skodas to do surprisingly well since they would be the only truly international cars south of Germans and Jap high-enders. So another batch of Karoqs will be sold out, Octavias will do well. Expect a few other models from the Skoda family to make surprise appearances as a newly confident Skoda shows of its wares and tests waters at the same time. (Scala perhaps? Fabia CBUs? Kamiq?)

Honda: I don't know what Honda will do. Scratch that. Honda doesn't know what Honda will do.

Toyota: Expect the CHR to come in for sure. Even Corolla may make a surprise appearance again. Maruti rebadging will continue. Crysta and Fortuner will keep commanding ridiculous premiums.

Hyundai / Kia: Will continue their upsurge in Q1 but start seeing momentum shift in Q2. They'll face increasing pressure from Tata on one end (Tata will push i20 and G-i10 and even Venue-Sonet if they play around with Nexon a little bit) and Skoda on the other (Seltos-Creta). Even the Magnite, while having maximum impact on Brezza, will eat away from Venue-Sonet. This will be the year of reckoning for India's venerable #2. They'll continue to be battered on safety from all sides but for the first time will also face challenges on pricing, quality, and even features too on both their flanks.

MSL: Will continue to lead, with eroding (but glacially slow) share as the masses continue to flock while competition chips away at their rough edges.

MG: Has had the advantage of no true competition yet. However will face a resurgent Mahindra with XUV500 and Tata Gravitas / Hexa. Also initial feedback will start coming in from early owners as first specimens get older. Interesting test for MG.

[COMMUTER]

That the attempts at electrification are briskly pushed for while crash testing is being conveniently forgotten is a gloomy trend on the car scene. What is more important? Is it saving lakhs of people from.road accidents or assuming that a few thousand insulin-resistant people will die a few day later than expected? It looks like its really simple choice for the men in power.

[VaibhaoT]

While original post don't mention anything about Honda City Hybrid, there were some report in media that we can expect it to be launched in India this year. Can we expect it this year?

[Horizon85]

Great thread Ajmat. Here are my thoughts.

Maruti Suzuki: Will see a drop in sales owing to customer focusing on GNCAP safety ratings. I can already see this happen in my known circles.

Hyundai and Kia: They will continue to soldier on the Creta/Seltos and Sonnet/Venue. i20 might not sell as much as it used to before.

Nissan: They will do decent numbers to stay afloat in India

Tata: Will have a great year and will see a sharp rise in sales. This success would be attributed to GNCAP safety ratings and the fact that they will have offerings in every segment from Tiago to Gravitas.

Mahindra: Will have a year full of new launches and will do reasonably well in the 15lakh SUV space. They will however feel the pinch of not being present in sub 10 lakh space.

Skoda/Volkswagen: The vision 2.0 models will bring in good numbers and sales will rise. Expect long waiting periods soon after the launch of these models given their production capacity.

Imagine what would have happened if Tata and Skoda Volkswagen group wouldn't have called off their platform sharing agreement back in 2017. The talk was for Skoda Volkswagen to use Tata's AMP platform on which the Altroz is built. This would have immensely benefitted both companies. It would have given Skoda Volkswagen time advantage. And for Tata, this would have meant a good petrol engine.

I mean imagine the 1.0 TSI in an Altroz.

Also, I feel that sometime in the mid/end of 2021, there would be a push for an Indian standard of safety ratings from manufacturers who don't like GNCAP or are fairing poorly in GNCAP. This will be led by Suzuki and Hyundai.