Indian car sales for October 2019 analysed: SUV body style lead the charge in budget segments

The recently concluded festival season has provided some much needed respite for the Indian car market in terms of sales. The last two quarters had seen the sales numbers drop for even the most popular models. 

The SUV segment has of course seen maximum growth and as a whole has expanded by five per cent when compared to the same period in 2018. This has no doubt taken place due to the addition of new players in the segment like the Mahindra XUV300 and Hyundai Venue who are still contributing to the numbers despite being launched earlier this year. 

In October 2019, the sub-four meter SUV group saw total sales of 33,225 units as compared to 29,763 units in October 2018 resulting in a growth of 12 per cent. 

The traditional players’ a.k.a sedans and hatchbacks have both seen their market share shrink by four per cent and two per cent respectively, no doubt a consequence of the SUV craze that India has been experiencing for a while now.

Among the hatchbacks, it was only the entry-level segment that saw any kind of growth with 34,630 units dispatched as compared to 29,425 units in October 2018. Since last year, the Hyundai Eon and Tata Nano have gone off the market allowing for the others to acquire a larger share of the pie. 

Every major player in the sub-four sedan segment barring the Maruti Dzire saw a massive drop in over sales numbers. The Ford Aspire has taken the biggest hit with sales dropping from 2520 units in October 2018 to 519 units in October 2019 resulting in a 79 per cent drop.   

While SUVs may be leading the trend in terms of overall growth, in terms of individual sales the top five cars were the Maruti Dzire, Maruti Swift, Maruti Alto, Maruti Baleno and the Hyundai Elite i20. However, when compared to their sales in October 2018, all five cars have seen a decent growth.