The dampened market sentiment among car buyers due to demonetisation weighed heavy on leading passenger vehicle manufacturers like Maruti Suzuki India, Hyundai Motor India and Mahindra & Mahindra in December 2016, the first full month of sales after currency scrappage was announced. Overall passenger vehicle sales declined by 1.36 percent to 227,824 units.
India’s top-selling car, the Maruti Alto, took the biggest hit among the top 10 bestsellers as volumes slid 23 percent from the same month last year, to 17,351 units. However, the Alto retained its numero uno position in the sales chart. The Dzire (14,643 units), Swift (14,538 units) and Wagon R (14,176 units) occupied the next three slots. In fact, Maruti maintained its stronghold taking seven positions in the list with the Vitara Brezza (8,971 units), maintaining its position as India’s bestselling SUV and the Baleno selling 9,486 units. The recent launch of the Ignis is likely to give a boost to volumes at Maruti’s premium Nexa showrooms.
Meanwhile, Hyundai sold 10,519 units of the popular Grand i10 and the i20 found 9,803 buyers.
Renault’s bestseller Kwid took the ninth spot and continued to remain popular as it sold 8,797 units.