Hyundai Creta, Ford EcoSport, Maruti Ciaz drive sales in Rs 8 - 10 lakh segment

Car sales in January bounced back from one of the largest declines seen in December after demonetization. Car sales in the country grew 10.83% in January, with the C2 category witnessing a 22.8% growth in the month as sales grew to 48,100 units compared to 39,145 units in the same month last year.

Passenger vehicles priced between Rs 8 lakh to Rs 9.5 lakh are placed in the C2 segment.

The segment was driven by high sales of cars such as the Ford EcoSport, Hyundai Creta and the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz. These three cars saw a 20% - plus growth in sales during the month.

Ford sold 23.4% more EcoSport's in January 2017 as against the same month last year. Even on a month-on-month basis, the EcoSport posted a large 141.1% growth in sales during the month. It sold 3,761 units in January 2017 compared to 3,047 units in January 2016. It had sold only sold 1,560 units in December 2016, while the sector was hit by the note ban issue.

The sales of Hyundai Creta grew 20.2% in January compared to the same month last year and posted a 20.6% growth from a month earlier. The car maker sold 7,918 units of the Creta in January 2017 compared to 6,589 units in January 2016 and sold 6,563 units in December 2016.

Maruti Suzuki's Ciaz also saw a 20.2% growth in sales in January from the same month last year. It posted an even higher month-on-month sales of 76% from December 2016. Sales of the sedan grew to 6,530 units in January 2017 from 5,431 units sold in January 2016. In December 2016, it sold 3,711 units, as sales had slumped to an all new low.

Mahindra Scorpio, which also falls in the category, saw a growth in sales, although it was in single digits. Sales of the Scorpio grew to 9.3% in January as the company sold 4,387 units as against 4,013 units sold in January 2016. Mahindra sold 3,556 Scorpios in December 2016.

Maruti Suzuki's S-Cross posted only a 3.8% growth in sales during January as it grew to 2,109 units this year from 2,032 units in the same month last year.

All the other cars in the segment, however, saw their sales falling in during the month. This includes the Fiat Linea, Honda City, Hyundai Verna, Mahindra TUV300, Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, Nissan Terrano, Renault Duster, Skoda Rapid, Tata Safari Storme and Volkswagen Vento.

While Fiat Linea saw a 34.8% decline in sales, Honda BRV decline by 8.9% MoM, Hyundai Verna posted a 26.7% decline in sales during January 2017, Mahindra TUV300 declined by 36.9%, even Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza declined by 0.4% MoM, Nissan Terrano sales slumped by 49%, Renault Duster declined by 5.2%, Skoda Rapid saw a 8.1% decline in sales, Tata Safari Storme declined by 25.1% and Volkswagen declined by 61%.