Top 10 Passenger Vehicles in January 2016

The start of the New Year 2016 was not the best for the Indian passenger vehicle industry as car sales de-grew for the first time in January after posting 14 consecutive months of growth. Bellwether Maruti Suzuki, reported flattish growth in the month and dragged down the overall industry sales numbers. The impact of the carmaker’s weak performance on the industry can be easily gauged from the fact that Maruti has 6 of its models among the top 10 most sold PVs in January.

On the top spot yet again was the Alto hatchback with sales of 21,462 units. The undisputed king of the Indian car market received the much-needed driver airbag option last month and given the rising emphasis on safety, customers are likely to opt for the feature as well. Despite rising competition from the likes of Renault’s Kwid, the Alto continues to dominate in India given Maruti’s unparallel reach and service network.

The Dzire, along with the Tour edition popular among fleet owners, grabbed the number 2 spot in January with combined sales of 17,587 units. The Swift hatchback took the next spot on the list with sales of 14,057 units. Even as the recently launched Baleno has managed to eat into some share of the Swift, it continues to be a large volume driver for the company.

Right behind on number 4 with sales of 12,744 units was the Wagon R. The ageing entry-level hatchback has seen its sales getting affected by newer feature laden entrants in the segment, but the spurt of ride-share aggregators like Ola and Uber has somewhat rekindled demand for the car.

Hyundai Motor India with its Grand i10 and Elite i20 hatchbacks captured the fifth and the sixth spots on the list. The Grand i10 outdid its elder sibling in terms of sales for the second straight month with sales of 9,934 units. Nevertheless, the Elite i20 reclaimed its top premium hatchback tag from the Baleno with sales of 9,604 units in January.

The Baleno, which took the number 8 spot in January with sales of 7,698 units, had edged past the Elite i20 in December. The Baleno is certainly a worthy opponent to the i20 in the premium hatchback segment and given the positive response from the market, it would be interesting to see who comes on top.

Making a comeback in the Top 10 last month was the Honda City, which took the 7^th place with sales of 8,037 units. The ever-popular City was the only representative for the Japanese carmaker in the list in January and remained its most sold car as well.

The last two spots were taken by vehicles representing completely different segments. Number 9 was the entry level hatchback Celerio with 7,141 units and the last spot was taken by the Hyundai Creta with sales of 6,589 units, which was the only SUV to be featured in the list. 

With the Auto Expo 2016 now done with, we have had a glimpse of the new cars to hit Indian roads this year. The onslaught of the compact SUV’s in the form of Suzuki’s Vitara Brezza, Honda’s BR-V and Tata’s Nexon, is set to redefine the character of Indian roads in the coming months, but will we see them feature in the Top 10 in the future? Only time would tell.

Also read: India Sales Analysis - January 2016