India finds its hearts Dzire in Maruti cars

Of the 10 top-selling cars in the country in the April-June quarter, the top six were from Maruti Suzuki and in total the company had seven models in the top 10 list. The remaining three models were from Hyundai Motor India, data sourced from Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) showed. Though the waiting periods for Maruti’s premium hatchback Baleno and compact sports utility vehicle Vitara Brezza are longer — running into several weeks — it’s the company’s mid-size sedan, the Swift Dzire, which ranked as the topmost selling car during the quarter at 74,765 units. Baleno was at the fourth position with sales of 57,660 units while Brezza was at the sixth spot with 37,160 units.

That the Dzire — which underwent facelift and changes features in May last year — has been lapped up by consumers can also be gauged from the fact that the car achieved the fastest 1-lakh-unit sales mark, in just five and a half months from launch.

Another interesting aspect is the change in consumer preference in the sense that Maruti’s entry-level car Alto came second with sales of 61,193 units during the quarter, which basically shows that more and more people are now going for higher variants of cars even as their first purchase, unlike a few years ago when entry-level cars ruled the roost. In those days the Alto always topped the charts in terms of sales.

However, what is notable is that both the Alto and WagonR (fifth position), which are more than a decade old, still rank among the top 10 selling cars. After Maruti, the country’s second-largest passenger car maker Hyundai’s models stood at the seventh (i10), eighth (Creta), and ninth (i20) spots during the quarter. Maruti’s hatchback Celerio was at the 10th spot.

According to SIAM, total domestic passenger vehicle (PV) sales during April-June grew 19.91% to 8,73,501 units. Maruti Suzuki sold 4,58,967 units of PVs during the period, a growth of 24.93% compared with the same period last year. Its market share in the PV market during the quarter moved up to 52.4% against 50.43% during the same period a year earlier.

Hyundai sold 1,37,114 units during the period, registering a growth of 10.28%. The company’s market share fell to 15.69% from 17% in the year-ago period. Mahindra & Mahindra retained its number three position in the segment, registering sales of 60,539 units, up 8.52%. Its market share dipped to 6.93% from 7.65% in the same period last year.

Tata Motors registered the fastest sales growth during the quarter at 48.5% selling 58,969 units. As a result, its market share in the PV segment increased to 6.75% up from 5.45% in the same period last year. It moved up to the fourth spot, overtaking Honda Cars India. Honda Cars India sold 42,609 units, up 10.49%, and its market share stood at 4.88% during the quarter, down from 5.29% in the same period last year.