Car sales drop in December this year

Car sales in India dropped dramatically in December against rest of the year 2009. Thanks to holidays and general assumption of December being inauspicious for new purchases. The car sales growth for the month would be 8 to 9 per cent this month. Contrary to this month, the period of April to November saw best growth figures for all the major auto companies. For instance, Honda Siel Cars India car sales rose 32 per cent in the above said period. It is to be noted that the car sales in India rose 22 per cent in the April-November period due to new car launches, rising incomes and cheap funding by banks. In November only, car sales moved up 67 per cent. The passenger vehicles sales is projected to 18 lakh by the end of current fiscal as compared to 15.5 lakh of fiscal 2009. In the April-November period, several cars were launched in India such as Tata Indigo Manza, Hyundai i20, Fiat Palio and Fiat Linea, Maruti Ritz, Toyota Fortuner and Chevrolet Cruze. In the beginning of the new year, there would be several new launches in Delhi Auto Expo that might take customers to the showrooms. Chevrolet Beat, Volkswagen Polo, Maruti Eeco, Ford Figo and Tata Inidcruz are slated to be launched at the show. Launching of Chevrolet Beat and Volkswagen Polo may change the market scenario which is dominated by Hyundai i20 and Maruti Swift.

Hyundai i10 leaves behind Santro in sales

Hyundai i10 has become the flagship model of Hyundai leaving behind Hyundai Santro. As per the sales figures of last few months, monthly sales of Hyundai i10 have touched 12000 units as against 7000 for the Hyundai Santro. In the year 2000, Hyundai Santro's sales was at 12,000 units a month. It drops to 7,000 units a month at present. Interestingly, Hyundai i10 is priced higher than Hyundai Santro but superior technology, contemporary styling and competitive pricing have made the difference. The company intends to sell around 85,000 units of Santro and 1.4 lakh units of i10 in the current year.
Hyundai Motor India's senior VP, Arving Saxena told that the company is following a multi-model strategy and hopes at consolidated sales of i10 and Santro. Contribution by sales of company's compact cars (i10 and Santro) is remarkable and has a largest customer base. The cars are giving tough competition to Maruti Wagon R, Tata Indica, Maruti Alto and Maruti Zen Estilo. The competition will become more fierce with the launch of Maruti Eeco and Volkswagen Polo in India.

Tata Nano is still price-protected

There is no threat of price hike for Tata Nano. Tata Motors will deliver the small car at the same price on which it was offered. The prices will be the same as before and rising tyre prices and steel prices will not affect it. Prakash M Telang, MD of Tata Motors, told a news agency that the price would not be altered for the present bookings and it will take long time to complete the present bookings. Earlier, the company had committed that the first 1 lakh Tata Nano owners would be price-protected at the ex-showroom prices. All the three variants of the world's cheapest car are available between Rs 1.23 lakh and Rs 1.72 lakh. The company has committed to deliver the first one lakh Nanos, from 2.06 lakh final bookings, by March Next year. The rest of the cars would be delivered to the owners during the next phase. Mr Telang added that prices of steel and tyre are increasing and the company is watching the trend closely. However, he did not disclose company's plan to increase the prices of other Tata Motors models. It is also predicted that new car models like Volkswagen Polo and Maruti Eeco will be launched with added prices in India.