Maruti and Hyundai drive sales rally in May ’14

The election of a new government in mid-May 2016 with a stable majority has sent the Sensex soaring and perhaps improved buyer sentiment in the car market but discounts continue for a variety of laggard brands. However, several companies had things to cheer about.   

• Hyundai Motor India clearly has a winner with the Xcent. The car has sold 16,171 units so far and has zoomed into the Top 10. Clearly, this platform which the Xcent shares with the Grand, has been a success and Hyundai will want to build on it. The Grand has sold 91,718 since its September 2013 launch and is on the cusp of the 100,000 mark.

• The new Honda City is selling briskly. It was launched last January, first in diesel and then a month later in petrol. So far 30,000 units have sold as against 11,822 in the year-earlier period when the City was available only in petrol.

• The Maruti Dzire is gaining ground and like in May 2013, is the top seller in this month. It has sold close to 90,000 units and has overtaken the Swift three times in this calendar.

• The Amaze appears to have lost some of its momentum. After making several appearances in the Top 10, it’s now out of that pecking order. The Xcent has made a dent in its sales and Honda will have to look for ways to make this car pick up momentum again.

• Toyota’s new Corolla Altis has got off to a great start with 548 units sold, thus serving notice to the leader in the segment, the Elantra. The Hyundai warrior completes two years next month and has virtually ruled the segment. Will that change?

Here’s a detailed look at how the key players and their key models fared in May 2014.

Maruti Suzuki

While the Swift (17,936 units) and Dzire (18953 units) continue on their successful run, the Alto has dropped to No 3 in the pecking order after the Dzire and Swift selling 17,311 units. The month saw the Omni (over 6,000 sold) back in the Top 10 after a two-month gap.  Maruti’s focus on smaller towns and rural areas has clearly paid off in this regard. For May, the Dzire is king just as it was a year earlier. Maruti sold a total of 90,560 units as against 77,821 units in May 2013, up 16 percent.

The Celerio (with its innovative AMT variant) is clearly giving Maruti a healthy sales fillip. Maruti has launched a CNG-powered version but overall, the company has never really scored with its CNG range so it remains to be seen how this variant performs in the market.

Maruti’s UV portfolio (Gypsy, Ertiga, Grand Vitara) sold 22 percent more at 5,253 units (May 2013: 4,307 units). The van segment (Omni, Eeco) sold 10,771 units during May 2014, up by 50.2 percent over 7,172 units sold in May 2013.

Hyundai Motor India’s May sales rose 13 percent to 36,205 cars as against May 2013 tally of 32,102).  The Xcent and Grand sold 7,792 and 9,317 units respectively in the month and along with the Eon, which sold 6,500 units, accounts for a 20 percent weightage in the Top 10 up from 17 percent in September when the Grand made its debut.

GRAND

Mahindra & Mahindra’s entire vehicle portfolio remains under pressure. Overall, the company sold 18,085 units in May 2014 comprising UVs and passenger cars, down 18.70 percent on year-ago sales (May 2013: 22,244 units). Last year’s excise hike and incremental diesel price increases have impacted its sales. The Bolero sold 8,846 units in the month and is a star and a regular in the monthly Top 10. In the passenger car segment, the Verito and Vibe continue to struggle. M&M is also looking for ways to revive the Verito and Quanto. It is also focussing on the smaller UV segment and is slated to launch two compact SUVs in 2015.

Riding on the new City, Honda Cars India sold 13,362 units in May 2014, up 17.81 percent over May 2013 (11,342 units). The City zoomed into the Top 10 in its very first month, almost eight years after its last appearance in the Top 10 pecking order when its sales were about 3,500 units a month. Having a diesel variant has helped and sales of both fuels have had a 1000 unit difference in favour of diesel.

The Amaze is a just over a year old and though the car had made it into the Top 10 in the initial months, it seems to have lost some of its momentum thanks to competition from the likes of the Dzire and Xcent. Sales have stabilised at about 4,000 units a month. Another Honda offering, the Brio, had a good run in May with 1,333 units sold, its highest number for this calendar year.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor’s new Corolla Altis has got off to a great start with 548 units sold. Over the last year or so, Corolla sales have been more on petrol with 1,239 units sold as against and 1,136 diesels. The Liva sold 1,914 units in the month, fewer than the Maruti Ritz’s 2,600 units, but a solid performance since the beginning of the year. Toyota’s Etios Cross has got off to a good start as well with 555 units sold.

Tata Motors’ Nano got a much-needed boost with the power steering variant but that seems to have fizzled out now. The Nano now is the only player in the A segment with the 800 being withdrawn. While the OE’s overall tally keeps falling, the numbers for the Indica +Vista have shown a rising trend in recent months.

INDICA and VISTA

Ford India re-opened bookings for the EcoSport SUV in May and is on the cusp of completing a year this month. After the initial recall and the supplier glitches earlier on this year, the EcoSport has settled at around 4,000 units a month since the beginning of 2014. The Figo now facing competition has seen sales stabilise at just under 2,000 units for most of this year except for a spike in February which may have been due to the excise cut announced in the interim budget.

General Motors India approaches a year since its Tavera ran into a problem following one of India’s biggest recalls in recent year. Sales have picked up now and last month saw 1,847 units being sold.

TAVERA

Nissan Motor India sold 5,021 cars in May as against 2,080 units sold in May 2013, up by 141.39 percent (on a low base). The Datsun Go contributed 1,992 units, dropping below the 2,000-mark. Is this brand under some early pressure? There have been issues with its NVH and some customers have had problems with the vehicle’s doors. Another likely reason is that Nissan is in the process of transiting into its own distribution set-up. Moreover, stiff competition from the Eon (with a one-litre engine) has impacted the brand.

The Micra has also done well with 696 units sold in May and for this calendar year till now has sold 4,396 units as against 3,595 units in the year-earlier period. However, Nissan has every reason to be pleased with the Terrano SUV, which sold 1,859 units in the month.

Sales of the Sunny spiked up a bit in May but all eyes or on the refresh expected next month. Journalists are test-driving the car miles from the Indian mainland in the Andamans later this week. Sales of this car widely advertised for its space has dropped to a third of its earlier tallies.

Renault India’s Duster SUV has saved the day for the French carmaker which saw sales of 3,650 units sold during the month (May 2013: 6,300 units). The Duster sold 3,327 units and the Pulse added on 171 units.

Fiat India sold 571 units in the month for the Punto and for Jan-May, sales for this car have crossed 4,000 mark as against 1,500 and odd in the year-earlier period. This is a tribute to its new network as well as some advertising.

PUNTO

Along with the Micra, the Punto is one of the few cars  has got sold decent numbers. Seems like the separation with Tata Motors has worked. Fiat India has set up over 116 outlets. The parent company has outlined a five-year business plan that will see 12 new models/refreshes in India. Upcoming is the Avventura and the 500 Abarth.  

Volkswagen India sold 1,590 units of the Polo, half the tally of May 2013. The Vento sold 836 units as against 1,653 units in the year-earlier month. From a monthly average of 3,000 units in 2013, the Polo has fallen to around 2,000 units. The addition of the TSi variant helped boost numbers but the May 2014 tally is almost the lowest  in this calendar. VW needs some pep in its line up but until the under-four-metre Vento makes its entry next year, VW will have to pull out all stops to push its portfolio. Our sister magazine, Autocar India, has learnt that the face-lifted Polo is expected later in the year and this could likely be around the festive season. 

UV segment

In the overall UV segment, the mainstay continues to be the Mahindra Bolero which sold 8,846 units as against 9,780 units in the year-earlier month. A year on, the Bolero’s weightage has fallen to 21 percent from 26 percent in the year-earlier month.

The Scorpio had some incredible performances in the last fiscal crossing the 5,000-mark in May 2014 but sales of the brand as a whole has been about 50,000 on an annual basis. Will the next-gen version change this? That could help boost numbers if overall macro-eco indicators improve.

Both established products, M&M has not quite had this kind of success with its newer offerings such as the Quanto. However, M&M has reason to cheer with the XUV500 seeing a spike in Q4 of 2013-14 and that has helped the brand sell 1,000 units at more at 15,748 units as against 14,777 units earlier. Hoping to ride this, the company launched a Sportz limited edition on its W8 variant.

The Toyota Fortuner brings in 1,200 units a month and seems to have stabilised at that number. Along with the Innova, it saw its best month since last October but its May 2014 performance is perhaps due to a spillover demand from last month.