If the fiscal sales figures of the top three passenger vehicle (PV) makers in the country revealed today are anything to go by, then the Indian PV industry seems to be on track for posting healthy growth in 2015-16.
Maruti Suzuki India and Hyundai Motor India, the top two players in the country, reported their best-ever domestic sales for the fiscal ended March 31, with growth of 11.5% and 15.1% respectively. Third in terms of market share and the largest UV maker in the country, Mahindra & Mahindra also reported a 6% rise in sales after two consecutive double-digit declines in the last two fiscals. As of February, the top three manufacturers constituted 72.61% share in the PV market.
During FY 2014-15, the top three manufacturers in the country – Maruti Suzuki India, Hyundai Motor India and Mahindra & Mahindra – had sold a total of 1,815,338 units. In 2015-16, these manufacturers have sold 2,026,282 units, registering a YoY growth of 11.62%.
A slew of product launches, softening interest rates and benign fuel prices played a big role in driving consumer demand for passenger vehicles throughout 2015-16. However, a challenging regulatory environment and fluctuating policy decisions during the last quarter of the fiscal did cap the overall growth potential for the industry.
Maruti Suzuki India not only maintained its top spot with a market share of nearly 47%, but 2015-16 is the fourth year in a row when the top four best-selling models in the country are Maruti cars: the Alto, Dzire, Swift and the Wagon R.
The company launched three completely new models in the fiscal – S-Cross, Baleno and Vitara Brezza – along with an all-new premium sales channel called Nexa.
While the S-Cross did not become a big volume driver for the company, the Baleno and the recently launched Vitara Brezza have managed to capture the buyer’s fancy.
Hyundai Motor India not only reported the highest ever volumes in 2015-16, it also achieved its highest ever growth rate (15.1%) in the year as well. The Creta, launched in July 2015, became a true game-changer for the company in India and took the SUV market by storm. With average monthly sales of around 7,000 units, the Creta was a regular feature among the top 10 most sold cars in the country throughout the year and established Hyundai as a force to reckon with in the fast growing SUV market in India.
Mahindra reinvented its product strategy in 2015-16 by launching a total of 9 new products and variants during the fiscal. This renewed strategy paid rich dividends for the company and strong market response for the new products like TUV300 and the KUV100 helped the automaker post positive numbers for the year. This growth comes after two consecutive fiscals of double-digit decline for the automaker. In 2014-15, the company had sold 223,968 units in the domestic PV market with a dip of 11.94%, which was preceded by a decline of 18.14% in 2013-14, with sales of 254,344 units.