Maruti’s perennial best seller, the Alto topped the charts this fiscal year and Maruti increased its market share to about 50 percent. Newer models such as the Ford EcoSport, Hyundai Grand i10 and the new Honda City did well in a slow market. Also, last year’s booming UV segment experienced a steep decline of around 20 percent this year. In a slow and competitive market, the following are the cars that managed to top the charts in their respective segments.
Hatchbacks
The largest segment in India, hatchbacks make up 53.47 percent of all our passenger cars. The Alto, Swift and the Wagon R, Maruti dominated the segment, occupying the top three spots and incidentally, these are the three highest selling cars in the country too. Next up are Hyundai’s Eon, that managed 86,464 units, and the recently introduced Grand i10 that averaged a good 10,000 units a month since launch, totalling 72,789 units
Entry level sedans
Reporting a 16.6 percent gain and moving an impressive 1,97,685 cars this fiscal year, the Maruti Dzire comfortably tops the entry level sedan segment. Its closest competitor, Honda's Amaze comes in second with 77,411 units sold this year. This is followed by the Toyota Etios, Tata Indigo and Manza and Chevrolet Sail. However, these sedans will have to do far better to catch up to the segment leaders.
Sedans
Hyundai’s Verna tops the mid-size sedans this year clocking 45,734 units this year. However, Honda’s new City with a diesel option this time around, has been immensely popular since its launch and has sold about 5,000 units a month compared to the Verna’s 3,700 monthly average. With 35,844 units this year, the City comes in second. This is followed by the Volkswagen Vento, Skoda Rapid and Nissan Sunny that combined managed just over 40,000 units this fiscal year.
SUVs
SUVs have gained popularity over the past few years and this year saw a lot of action in this segment with the smaller SUVs fighting a close competition. The Mahindra Scorpio still retains the apex position, selling 50,950 units followed by the Renault Duster that managed 46,786 units this year. Ford’s popular EcoSport is hot on the Duster’s heels selling 45,008 units in its debut year. The XUV 500 and Toyota Fortuner have lost a bit of its popularity and sold 29,977 and 16,551 units this fiscal year.
MUVs
The MUV segment is the second largest in the country and consists of 16.3 percent of the total passenger car segment. Even after a decade in existence, the utilitarian Mahindra Bolero with 1,07,181 units leads the MUV chart by a huge margin. Following it is another old but functional car, the Maruti Omni, posting 64,164 units. At number three, is the contemporary Maruti Ertiga that despite sliding 21.7 percent this year, found a good 59,822 takers. The Toyota Innova isn’t far behind with 55,312 units while the functional Eeco comes in fifth with 37,501 units.
Interestingly, Maruti products occupy three of the top five positions in the two largest segments in the auto industry and when you consider that its market share has grown to almost 50 percent, it gives you a perspective on how big a lead India’s largest carmaker has over the others.
ADITYA BENGALI