August 2012 Sales Figures – Pan India
HIGHLIGHTS:
· 1) The country’s largest automaker had the ‘largest’ fall in the month. All thanks to the month-long lockout at its Manesar plant. It reported a 40.8 percent decline in total sales for August at 54,154 units as against 91,442 units in the same month last year. Although the production resumed in August 21, the numbers of best selling Swift and Dzire couldn’t exceed 804 & 3085 numbers respectively. No doubt Maruti Suzuki is planning a 99% automation of its plants! J
· 2) It is agonizing to see the decline of the entry-level hatchs –name any and its sales figures would awe you with its downfall! The undisputed kingpin Alto suffers its greatest collapse till date (in my record of past 20 months!). Reason? Simple, because of yours and mine shift to diesel cars. Customer have just eliminated models only with petrol variants from their consideration set itself. Proof – Eon (5418 nos.), Spark (530 nos.), Estilo (828 nos.), A-star (114 nos.), i10 (6300 nos.) & Nano (607 nos). Once considered to be the most lucrative segment has questioned the dynamics of the market itself. India as a market is now one of the most difficult markets to crack! I’m waiting for the Diesel Nano – this could create some ripples and drive optimistic change in the segment.
· 3) Bolero – the ultimate no.3. Just in July I’d predicted that Bolero would be in the top 2 list and the prediction seems to bear some positivity in the immediate month itself. The ruggedness and toughness is visible in the sales figure of the product as well. If I was asked 2 words to describe the brand – those would be “Consistent” & “Exceptional”.
· 4) Mahindra seems to do magic again – the ‘refreshed’ Verito crossing 2k units! The offtake figure of 2102 units, is the highest for ‘Verito’ brand so far since its inception (even considering Logan). I wouldn’t be surprised to see it overtake the Xylo figures (2214 nos) as well in the coming months.
· 5) Sales figure of Rs. 14-16L odd worth vehicles – Cruze: 337 units, Civic: 53 units, Elantra: 608 units, Fluence: 131 units, Laura: 168 units, Corolla: 492, Jetta: 342. Take this – offtake of XUV 5oo: 3979 units! The XUV oversells over 1500 units in consideration with all the vehicles in the similar price range combined! The vehicle is still enjoying a long waiting period and puts its premium sedan competitors to shame. However a special mention to the NEO-FLUIDIC Elantra – with 608 units it tops the list (beating the stalwarts Corolla & Cruze) in its second month itself!
· 6) Duster flies with 3184 units! With this Renault has overtook Nissan and Skoda both (in terms of overall sales numbers). Duster has again highlighted the love for SUV’s among Indian car buyers. It’s compact space, butch looks and aggressive pricing has got it admirers and customers too. With rebadged Sunny – Scala waiting to take its first step on Sep 7, Renault seems to be hitting the right notes for now.
· 7) Tata manages to resume its 3rd position again. But it seems a difficult ride for the Indian conglomerate. M&M is just over 1k units (1095 to be precise) behind Tata in overall volume. Indica & Nano proves to be the volume gainer for the company.
· 8) Ertiga emerges to be the most ‘LUV’ed MUV. Within 6 months of its inception it is now the 6thhighest selling passenger car in India. No wonder Nissan, Chevy & Hyundai are eagerly waiting to launch their MUV offerings (Evalia, Enjoy & Hexaspace).
· 9) August emerges as a delight month for Honda. Not only it tops the JDP Sales Satisfaction study scores (for F12), but also fares decent in City & Brio sales. However, I’m disappointed with the offtake of Jazz – 465 units is a dishonor for this wonderful product.
A list of Top 20 Brands of the month –
