India Market Sales Analysis – December 2011

Maruti Suzuki continues to feel the ramifications of the prolonged labour strike in October last year, as buyers either shifted to other models and sales of competitors rose since then. The carmaker sold a total of 92,161 vehicles in December 2011 including 14,686 units for export. The company, which had sold a total of 99,225 units in December 2010, also lost six days of production due to its bi-annual maintenance shutdown for six days. The month saw sales of 24,113 Altos and 16,375 Swifts. Maruti has been going all out to make deliveries of the new Swift, given that the company had garnered over 100,000 bookings when the new hatchback was launched in July. Maruti also sold 9,189 units of the Dzire while its SX4 sold 843 units. The Kizashi, launched last February, sold 51 units.

Hyundai Motor India sold 29,516 units in December 2011 as against 26,168 in the year earlier month, an increase of 12 percent. Its latest launch, the Eon – which is pitched against the Alto – continued to do well, selling 6,223 units in the month. HMIL also sold 4,002 units of the Fluidic Verna and 4,915 of the Santro. Meanwhile, Tata Motors’ passenger vehicles business reported a total sale and distribution offtake of 29,417 units (28,916 Tata + 501 Fiat) in the domestic market, higher by 47 percent compared to 19,973 units (19,699 Tata + 274 Fiat) in December 2010. Sales of Tata passenger vehicles accounted for 28,916 units, a growth of 47 percent over 19,699 units, sold in December 2010. Nano sales comprised 7,466 units, higher by 29 percent, compared to 5,784 units sold in December 2010. With the new Nano 2012, Tata hopes to cross the 10,000 mark, as it did at the start of the fiscal. While the Indica range sales were 9,307 units, higher by 57 percent, over the 5,923 units sold in December 2010, the Indigo range had sales of 6,888 units, up 32 percent over the 5,233 units sold in December 2010.

Mahindra & Mahindra’s domestic sales stood at 39,891 units during December 2011, as against 32,546 units in December 2010, up 23 percent. The refreshed Bolero continues to do wonders for the company, notching sales of 9,165 units. M&M has begun to ramp up production of the XUV500 to 3,000 units from this month and sales touched 2,253 units in December 2011. Meanwhile, M&M announced aRs 55,000 hike in top-end XUV500 prices with bookings to re-open in mid-January. The Verito sold 1,263 units in the month. General Motors India recorded a 6.74 percent increase in sales for December 2011 at 9,039 units as against 8,468 units in December 2010. The sales break-up comprised 1,365 Sparks, 486 Cruze saloons and 4,796 Beats. The carmaker also sold 191 units of the entry-level Aveo saloon, 227 Optras, 1,927 Taveras and 47 Captivas. Sales of the Captiva have tapered off as a new model is expected (and was displayed at the Auto Expo) Toyota sold 15,948 units in December 2011 with the Etios and Liva contributing 5,446 and 4,399 units respectively. Cumulative sales of the Innova were 51,930 units and the Fortuner, 10,946 units for calendar year 2011.

Battered by the floods at its Thailand plant in October last year, Honda Siel Cars sold 1,070 units during the month comprising just 31 Brios, 600 units of the City, and 296 units of the Jazz. The company’s volume models have been affected and it will be some time before sales can achieve their full potential. The company hopes to re-start production of the Brio in February, following shifting production of the key components that were being made at its Thai facility to other parts of Asia.

Ford India reported a 39 percent jump in sales for December 2011 to 5,979 units as against 4,301 units in December 2010. In calendar 2011, the company sold 96,270 units in the domestic market, up 15 percent compared to 2010.

Nissan Motor India sold 1,569 units comprising 1,036 Micras and 533 Sunnys. Sunny sales have halved over November’s tally and this may be attributable to increased competition in the segment. The midsize segment has seen the entry of the Skoda Rapid and that may well change equations in the coming months.

Volkswagen India has clocked in 140 percent growth, selling a total of 78,408 units for calendar year 2011 as compared to 32,627 in 2010. Its two new cars launched in 2011, the Passat and Jetta, have sold 1,170 units and 1,688 units respectively. Cumulative sales of the Polo and the Vento, which for the first time got one full year of sales, sold 74,305 units for the January-December 2011 period.

Skoda’s new launch, the Rapid that takes on the VW Vento sold 1,296 units in the second month of its launch which is an indication that the model will do well. The car shares mechanical bits with the Vento and it remains to be seen how this badge engineering strategy will work. The Fabia sold 1,471 units in the month.

Hero MotoCorp rides high

In the two-wheeler segment, the Hero Group enjoyed another month of 500,000-plus sales with its motorcycle range touching 540,000 units in December 2011, up 7.8 percent from a year-ago period. On the other hand, Bajaj Auto’s motorcycle sales notched 263,699 units, up eight percent from year-ago figures of 243,675 units, up eight percent. Honda Motorcycle & Scooter reported 36.15 percent growth in sales in December 2011 at 191,584 units over the year-ago period. The company had sold 140,719 units in December 2010. Motorcycle sales jumped 24.97 percent to 78,721 units in December last year, against 62,991 units in December 2010.

TVS Motor Company recorded sales of 170,428 units for December 2011 against 171,790 units in December 2010. Its cumulative sales for April to December 2011 grew by 10 percent with sales of 1,670,040 units against 1,512,896 units recorded in the year-earlier period. Total two-wheeler sales stood at 167,905 units in December 2011 in comparison with 168,359 units recorded in December 2010. Scooters grew seven percent, recording sales of 44,804 units compared to 41,804 units recorded in December 2010. Bike sales registered 56,662 units in December 2011 against 61,414 units in December 2010. Domestic two-wheeler sales reported sales of 146,747 units in December 2011 against 19,357 units reported in December 2010. India Yamaha Motor sold 460,815 bikes in 2011 as compared to 350,274 in 2010, a growth of 31.6 percent over last year. In December alone, it sold 44,976 units this year versus 34,839 units in December 2010, up 29.1 percent. In domestic markets, sales grew 25.3 percent with 33,290 units in December 2011 in comparison to 26,567 units sold in the same month last year.

Overall, car sales bore the brunt of high petrol prices and increased interest rates which made loans expensive but two-wheeler sales saw no such effect. It has been a year since the Hero Group split from Honda but that has had no impact on Hero MotoCorp's sales. In fact, it has unveiled new models. In the car segment, new launches such as the Eon and Verna from Hyundai and the Sunny from Nissan helped the sales push. Towards end-2011, Maruti has been able to see the real impact of the all-new Swift.

The real story for the year is the might of Toyota whoseEtios and Liva have given the company's sales a dramatic push. And with its Polo and Vento, Volkswagen has been able to make a mark of sorts with both cars selling in the region of 3,000 and odd units every month.

BRIAN DE SOUZA