The festive season is already here but the sales charts haven’t taken off like they were expected to. The big dampener was fuel prices which scaled to more than Rs 90 per litre across the country along with the weakening rupee and the overall political gloom. India’s largest player, Maruti Suzuki, has had its sales dipped by almost 10 per cent over the previous month bringing the overall sales down in the country.
It seems that the premium segment has taken a hit, especially the premium hatches and sedans for Maruti Suzuki. On the other hand, Hyundai has managed to keep the momentum going across segments. The launch of the Santro and the humungous response to the budget hatch meant that Hyundai set their new sales record in the country.
Speaking about records, Ford has recorded growth of more than 100 per cent over the sales in October last year. What has worked for the American car maker is the new Ecosport and the Freestyle that have helped Ford mark a profit after almost a decade in the Indian market.
The Marazzo also seems to have worked for Mahindra, registering 3,810 units last month. On the strong base of the Scorpio, the Bolero and the XUV500, Mahindra has registered 13 per cent growth over the sales of the previous month and moved to a comfortable number three position on the sales chart.
The luxury car market hasn’t wavered off the growth path since the past couple of years. Volvo exceeded its CY2017 sales in the first nine months of 2018. Mercedes-Benz, as usual, is leading the luxury sales table while Audi, BMW and Jaguar-Land Rover aren’t too far behind, not necessarily in the same order. We also saw good movement in the exotic and sportscar market with new launches from Lamborghini, Aston Martin and Ferrari in the past six months.
Now that the fuel prices have dipped by almost 10 per cent in the last few weeks and prospect of a strengthening rupee has the market back on the bullish trend which means car dealers who missed out on the Dussehra bang can expect fireworks in Diwali.
