Maruti Suzuki continues its stranglehold in passenger vehicles in June

Maruti Suzuki India’s Dzire sedan bagged top honours from Indian car buyers in June 2015, with more customers preferring the compact sedan than the small car Alto, which had been leading the charts in both April and May 2015.

India largest passenger carmaker sold 21,866 units of the Dzire in June, followed by 21,115 units of its popular Alto. While the Dzire’s sales increased 11% from May 2015 (19,663), the Alto registered a 6.5% drop in sales due to falling rural demand amidst uncertainty about the monsoon. The Swift continued to be on the podium, selling 17,313 units, a marginal increase from May (17,195). The Wagon R and Stingray models witnessed combined sales of 13,221 units in June.

In the premium hatchback segment, Hyundai’s i20 posted sales of 10,841 units in June. This is the fifth consecutive month that this model has notched up sales of more than 10,000 units and takes its year-to-date tally up to 66,217 units. It will be interesting to see whether the launch of the Honda Jazz on July 8 will lead to the i20’s sales falling below the 10,000 mark this month.

Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) strengthened the appeal of the Celerio by equipping it with a diesel engine in June. The hatchback's sales increased by 21.4% to 8,078 units in the month. The Hyundai Grand i10 and Honda City both remained in the top 10, but witnessed a drop in sales of 11.3% to 8,970 units and 4.9% to 7,187 units respectively compared to sales in May.

The new entry in the Top 10 was the Honda Amaze, which sold 6,834 units, a staggering 85% increase compared to May 2015. This catapulted it to become the ninth most sold passenger vehicle in the country, ahead of Mahindra’s volume churner, the Bolero, sales of which dropped 19.5% month-on-month to 6,093 units – again an effect of the skepticism in the market about the monsoons.

The monthly sales figures highlight MSIL’s dominance in the Indian passenger vehicle market, with 5 out of the top 10, and 4 out of the top 5, models hailing from that stable. MSIL holds a 46.8% market share in the passenger vehicles industry in India in the April-June 2015 quarter, up from 44% in the same quarter in 2014. Hyundai Motor India claims second spot with a 17.2% market share, a marginal increase from its 17.1% market share in Q1 FY2014-2015. Mahindra & Mahindra, the country’s largest utility vehicles manufacturer, bags third spot in the overall passenger vehicles category, with a market share of 8.19%.

MSIL’s strong performance showcased itself in the individual categories within the passenger vehicles space as well. In terms of passenger cars, its market share in the April-June quarter increased to 53.08% this year, compared to 51% in the same period last year. In the utility vehicles category, led by Mahindra & Mahindra with a 38.5% market share, MSIL increased its share of the pie to 12.1% from 11.8% last year. The vans segment saw MSIL further cement its position by increasing market share to 79.6% from 68.2%.