India’s passenger vehicles segment – scratching beneath the surface

Car manufacturers have reported a significant growth in the fiscal that ended March’16.

Overall, the sales numbers of India’s to three car-makers, Maruti Suzuki India and Hyundai Motors India and Mahindra & Mahindra point at a healthy growth in the passenger vehicles segment. These top three manufacturers currently command 72.61% share in the passenger vehicles market.

Hyundai’s sales grew by9.1%, Mahindra’s by 10%, Honda’s by 5% and Tata Motors witnessed a growth of 3% in domestic sales. Segment leader Maruti’s domestic sales saw a YoY growth of annual sales of 11.2% in Feb 2015-16.

What are the numbers like?
Believe it or not, Maruti Suzuki India and Hyundai Motor India, the country’s top two players have posted their best-ever domestic sales in the current fiscal.

They reported an annual growth of 11.5% and 15.1% respectively. Second runner up Mahindra & Mahindra also reported a 6% hike in sales. This is after two consecutive double-digit declines in the last two fiscals.

Overall, during FY 2015-16, these manufacturers have sold 2,026,282 units, registering a YoY growth of 11.62% from last fiscal’s 1,815,338 units.

What fuelled the growth?
Experts believe that a slew of new product launches, attractive interest rates and agreeable fuel prices played a big role in the demand for passenger vehicles throughout 2015-16.

Challenges
The regulatory environment and the fluctuating policy decisions arrested the overall growth potential for the industry.
The current fiscal budget also taxed luxury vehicles and SUVs, a segment that has seen strong growth in India in recent months.

Company-wise performance:

Maruti Suzuki India
Maruti’s new models like the Baleno and Vitara Brezza are making a solid statement. Demand for the premium Ciaz sedan is up 28.9%.

Maruti’s UVs, namely the Gypsy, S-Cross, Ertiga and Vitara Brezza are making a solid contribution. They together sold 13,894 units, up 123.4% YoY! Such is the demand for the new Maruti Vitara Brezza that it’s led to a 5-month delivery time for the top-end variant.

Interestingly though, the entry level duo - Alto and Wagon R sold around 36,678 units. That’s down 8.7% YoY. Some say that is at the face of stiff competition from the likes of the Hyundai Eon and Renault Kwid.

Hyundai Motor India:
Hyundai clocked its highest-ever financial year domestic sales. The company sold a hefty 41,201 units in March 2016, up 4.24% YoY.

Hyundai has achieved an all-time highest volume and highest-ever market share of over 17%. The company says the success is due to the strong performance of models like the Creta, Elite i20 and Grand i10.

Back in 2015, the Creta took the Indian market by storm. Clocking average monthly sales of around 7,000 units, the Creta has been among the top 10 most sold cars in the country.

Mahindra & Mahindra
After two years of double-digit decline, M&M is back on track with a 6% rise in total domestic passenger vehicles. In March 2016, M&M’s passenger vehicles segment grew 21% YoY.

M&M reinvented its product strategy in 2015, and launched a total of nine new products. This paid off as products like the TUV300 and the KUV100 helped them grow.

Image credit: Indiatimes