India Market Sales Analysis - January 2011

Maruti Suzuki started out 2011 with January sales of 109,743 inclusive of exports of 9,321 units, crossing the 100,000 mark after a month’s gap. Sales in the volume A2 segment comprising the Alto, WagonR, Estilo and others rose 23.8 percent to 72,479 units. In the van segment, the carmaker sold 13,945 units cumulatively of the Omni, Versa and Eeco, 27 percent above year-earlier month sales. With its January sales tally, Maruti has crossed the one-million mark in sales – 10,37, 408 – achieved in 10 months.

Model-wise, the Alto’s sales, which have averaged 25,000 over the past eight to nine months, were 33,118 units in January. Maruti’s other top grossers included the WagonR which clocked 14,186 units and the Swift which sold 11,353 units.

Hyundai Motor India, the country’s second largest automaker, reported a dip of 17.7 percent in total sales during January 2011. It sold 43,316 units in January 2011, a fall of 17.7 percent as against 52,628 units sold in January 2010. Domestic sales witnessed a marginal increase of 30,306 units in January 2011 as against 29,601 units in January 2010. However, exports saw a negative growth of 43.5 percent, with sales of 13,010 units as against 23,027 sold in January 2010.

Meanwhile, Tata Motors’ passenger cars unit reported a total sales and distribution offtake of 32,386 units (including 30,212 Tata and 2,174 Fiat) in the domestic market in January 2011, higher by 14 percent as compared to 28,460 units (26,245 Tata + 2,215 Fiat) in January last year.

Sales of Tata passenger vehicles were 30,212 units, higher by 15 percent over January 2010. Sales of the Nano were 6,703 units, higher by 68 percent over January last year and over a thousand more than in December 2010. Particularly noteworthy is the Indigo range which clocked sales of 10,591 units, driving it into the Top 10 sales in the month.

The company’s Indica range sales were 8,456 units, lower by eight percent over January last year. The Sumo/ Safari/ Aria/ Venture range accounted for sales of 4,462 units, higher by 26 percent over January last year. Sales of the Aria have hovered in the 250-300 range and for January, they comprised 321 units.

Honda Siel Cars India sold 6,358 units in January 2011 as against 5,983 units sold during the corresponding month, up 6.3 percent. Model-wise break-up sales were: City (5,059 units), Jazz (579), Civic (508), Accord (174) and CR-V (38). The company sold 51,044 units in the April 2010 to January 2011 period as against 49,609 units sold during April 2009 to January 2010.

General Motors India, which recently launched a 1.2-litre engine based on its SMARTECH technology, recorded six percent sales growth in January, compared to the corresponding period last year. It sold 9,984 units in January 2011 against 9,421 units in January 2010. Sales of its volume cars – the Spark and Beat – crossed the 3,000 mark. Model-wise, sales comprised 3,272 Sparks, 3,345 Beats, 1,691 Taveras, 715 Cruzes, 243 Aveos, 331 Aveo U-VAs, 296 Optras and 91 Captivas.

The 1.2 SMARTECH engine was created by the GM Technical Centre India in Bangalore in cooperation with GM’s new engine plant in Talegaon. Furthermore, the company has commissioned the powertrain facility at Talegaon, making this the first flexi-engine plant for General Motors worldwide. Meanwhile, Ford India has started 2011 with its best monthly sales performance ever, with 10,026 units sold in January, up four-fold over 2,453 units sold over the same period last year. By reaching the 10,000-unit monthly sales milestone, Ford has surpassed its previous monthly record of 9,478, set in March 2010.

Sales of the Figo also hit an all-time new monthly high, with over 8,600 units sold in January, bettering the March 2010 sales estimate of 7,200 units. This marks the best monthly sales performance for the Figo since its March 2010 launch and takes the cumulative sales of this award-winning car to over 60,000 units. The company now plans to launch a 1.6-litre Figo.

According to Michael Boneham, Ford India's president and managing director, “We have carried the momentum of last year’s terrific performance into the new year by crossing the 10,000-unit sales mark. We are constantly fine-tuning our performance for maximum growth, and this is just the beginning of what I anticipate will be an incredible year for the company.”

Nissan Motor India sold 1,857 units in January 2011 as against 40 in January 2010. January 2011 sales were its highest. Out of the total 1,857 units, the Micra recorded sales of 1,784 units in January 2011 as against 1,057 sold in December 2010. This is also the highest sales attained by the Micra in a single month, ever since its launch in July 2010. Cumulative Micra sales are 8,225 units since its launch. Incidentally, the company launched a diesel version of the Micra in early December. Of the remaining cars, the Teana sold 21 units, and the X-trail registered sales of 52 units as against 10 in January 2010.

ŠkodaAuto India announced a sales growth of 51 percent for January 2011, selling 2,825 units against 1,881 units in January 2010.

In the luxury segment, Mercedes-Benz which kicked off a second shift last month sold 265 units of the C-class, 252 units of the E-class and 46 units of the S-class.In the CBU segment, the Chevrolet Captiva recorded 91 unit sales while the Volkswagen Beetle recorded 20.

Maruti Suzuki has just launched its Kizashi luxury saloon (see report elsewhere in this issue) and its performance in the market will be closely watched as it represents Maruti’s first serious attempt at carving a niche for itself in the luxury segment.

Hero Honda, Bajaj rule bike sales

Hero Honda Motors began 2011 with a strong sales figure of over 400,000 units at 4,66,524, a growth of almost 20 percent over January 2010 when it sold 3,89,802 units. Its cumulative sales in the April 2010 to January 2011 period stood at 44,14,537, a 16 percent increase over the corresponding period last year when the company sold 38,03,396 units.

Anil Dua, senior VP (marketing & sales), said: “Our strong sales for January have provided an excellent start to the new year and also helped continue the sales momentum of the last calendar year. This is the ninth consecutive month of 400,000-plus sales, coming on the back of 500,000-plus sales each in October and December 2010. Going forward, we aim to build on this strong trend and further consolidate our position as the market leader.”

The company also continued its strong endorsement and support to sports in the country with the Karizma ZMR Cricket Championship. Hero Honda, which is a global partner of the ICC, is currently hosting the championship across 75 cities in India and the sub-continent involving college cricket teams. It’s an association that has worked wonders for the Hero Honda brand.

For Bajaj Auto, increasing demand for its Pulsar and Discover brands has helped it to record sales of 3,13,583 units in January 2011 against 2,66,018 units in January, 2010. The Pulsar and Discover accounted for 68 percent of total volume. In the motorcycle segment, the company sold 2,75,622 units in January 2011, an 18 percent increase from 2,32,939 units in January 2010. India Yamaha Motor sold 28,597 units in January 2011 as compared to 22,408 units in January 2010, a growth of 28 percent. The company sold 21,974 units in January 2011 in the domestic market as against 17,598 units in the January 2010. In the export segment, it sold 6,623 units in January 2011 compared to 4,810 motorcycles exported in January 2010.

“With the launches of the SZ, SZ-R, SZ-X, and YBR 125 last year, we are well positioned to increase our presence in the Indian market. We will also continue with our focus on innovative marketing initiatives such as the Yamaha Safety Riding Science and R15 One Make race,” said Koji Arai, director, sales & marketing, India Yamaha Motor.

Meanwhile, TVS Motor Company recorded an overall sales growth of 30 percent in January 2011. It sold 165,152 units against 127,288 units in January 2010. For the 10-month April 2010 to January 2011 period, the company’s cumulative sales were 1,678,048 units. Its total two-wheeler sales grew by 29 percent with 161,725 units sold in January 2011 against 125,578 units in January 2010. Cumulative sales during April 2010 to January 2011 increased by 33 percent with sales of 1,646,827 units over 1,234,632 units in April to January 2010. Domestic sales recorded a growth of 30 percent with sales of 142,227 units in January 2011 against 109,504 units reported in January 2010. TVS' scooter sales increased 60 percent to 40,736 units as against 25,509 units recorded in January 2010. Motorcycles accounted for 24 percent growth with sales of 67,721 units in January 2011 as against 54,698 units in January 2010. In January, the company’s Wego completed a year.

Suzuki Motorcycle India recorded sales of 28,598 units in January as opposed to 20,448 units in January 2010, up 40 percent over its sales in year-earlier month. The company has attributed this increase to the response it received for the recently-launched Slingshot series.

BRIAN DE SOUZA