The calendar year 2020, has tested the best. From the very first it was evident that the market belonged to those who adapted themselves the best to the given challenges thrown by the pandemic.
Many OEM’s rapidly migrated to the PHYGITAL Platforms. Touch-less was a way of life. Right from the enquiring of cars to the delivery. Even the post sales experience went touch-less. Interestingly, customers came forward in big numbers to buy cars. With personal mobility and safety becoming the priority, people did not shy away from buying cars. The beneficiaries were those brands who established trust, prioritized safety and put convenience of purchase and ease of buying upfront.
Here is a snap shot of the top performing cars for the Calendar Year 2020.
1) OEM Share in the TOP 25 CARS :
Maruti Suzuki, commands about 50% of the market share when it comes to total car sales, The dominance is evident here as well with 10 cars out of the top 25 coming from MSIL.
Hyundai has 5 cars in the top 25.
2) TOP 20 CARS BY VOLUME :
The top 20 cars constitute to more than 60% of the new car sales.
In other words, we have about 120+ cars, who contribute to only 40% of the volume.
3) TOP 20 MODELS IN TERMS OF GROWTH:
While higher the growth, would mean more the acceptance from the customers. However, we may have to discount the lower base of certain models.
Never the less growth in terms of volumes is something that was not easy during the year 2020.
Here we have about 10 OEMs participating and fighting for the top growth models. Starting from MSIL with 4 models in the highest growth, we have Kia, Toyota, MG and Tata motors contributing with high growth models.
4) In order to avoid vehicle categorization as per the new or the old format , we have made the categorization simpler :
a) Hatch
b) Sedan
c) UV
Below are the top performers in terms of
a) Hatch
Lead by Swift, which is a segment and industry leader for a long time. Hyundai’s i10 and i20 seem to be the only challengers to the MSIL in the hatch leader board.
However, Tiago & Altroz have made in-roads with its consistent performance.
b) Sedan
With the shrinking size of the Sedan market, all OEMs have one or two cars in the segment. However with the change in customer insights towards UV, it is worth waiting for the strategy adopted by OEMs in this segment.
Dzire continues to lead the segment. Followed by Venu , Amaze, Xcent/Aura and City.
c) UV & Vans :
The fastest growing segment. Has multiple facets to it. We have MPV, SUV, Compact UV, MUV and what not.
For ease of understanding of the readers, have clubbed all as UV.
Eeco is the undisputed Van leader, followed by UV players like Creta from Hyundai, Seltos from Kia and Brezza.
Well, the year 2020 had thrown its set of challenges. With the entire auto industry turning the tide in the second half of the year and entering 2021 with strong growth, it would be interesting to see if the much anticipated new launches break into the top selling cars or the old/existing war horses would hold fort.
(This article was written by Aamir Ahmed, an auto zealot at heart, and rev-head by profession. You can connect with him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/aamir-ahmed-b0688423/)