INDIA SALES: Top 10 Passenger Cars in 2016-17

Maruti Suzuki India, which has a 52.11 percent market share in the domestic passenger car market, has swept the Top 10 best-selling passenger cars list for FY2016-17. From having five models in FY2016, the carmaker now has seven models with the Baleno and the Ciaz joining the Alto, Wagon R, Dzire, Swift and the Celerio. The Hyundai Grand i10 and Elite i20 and the Renault Kwid are the three other models that make up the list.

Both in FY2017 and FY2016 Maruti has a strong grip on the first four positions but what’s clear is that sales have slowed down for three models – the entry-level Alto (-8.27%), the Swift hatchback (-14.4%) and Dzire sedan (-14.63%). While the trio together contributed 654,404 units in FY2016, their combined sales are down 12 percent to 575,786 units. The Wagon R is the sole model in the top four to have recorded growth: 1.64 percent at 172,346 units (FY2016: 169,555).

While the Baleno hatchback, at No. 7, was a popular buy throughout the fiscal, averaging monthly sales of 10,000 units, the premium Ciaz sedan, which is now being sold through the Nexa channel, sold 64,448 units to take No. 10 position. The Celerio, at No 9, sold 97,361 units, recording 11.36 percent growth over its 87,428 units sold in FY2016.

For Hyundai Motor India, its twin entries in FY2016 – the Elite i20 and Grand i10 – continue to be in the Top 10 but in interchanged position. In FY2017, demand for the Grand i10 (146,228 units) was more than that for the Elite i20 (126,304).

The popular Kwid is Renault India’s weapon of entry into the Top 10. At eighth position, the hatchback sold 109,341 units in FY2017, its first full year of sales in the domestic market. Launched in September 2015, the car had sold a total of 41,204 units in FY2016.

The overall passenger car market saw marginal growth of 3.85 percent in FY2017 with sales of 2,102,996 units. FY2018 promises to see a rollout of a good number of new models but with the booming SUV segment eating into the passenger car market, the battle for sales bids fair to be an exciting one.