Indian car sales for July 2016: Winners and Losers

The monsoons have blessed the entire country with ample rainfall after a parched 2015. The month of July, owing to the rains, is generally slow for the automobile industry with car buyers shelving their plans to the festive season a month or two away. While we can expect a good harvest for the festive wave, here are the winners and losers for July 2016.

Winners

Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza

This compact SUV has turned out to be a grosser for the Indian car maker. Rising steadily since its launch, the Vitara Brezza crossed ten thousand units per month barrier for the first time in July 2016. Sold as diesel only, the Vitara Brezza offers a mini-SUV for the price of a sedan and maintenance of a hatchback, something that will always work in India.

Tata Tiago

Tata had a lot of expectations from the Tiago hatchback and the car seems to be delivering as it crosses the 5000 mark, selling almost 20 per cent more as compared to last month. Launched at a very aggressive price, the Tiago offers a unique blend of style and functionality in its segment, in line with the new design ideology adopted by the Indian conglomerate. 

Ford Endeavour

The luxury SUV segment is not a volumes game. Toyota Fortuner has been ruling this segment for a long time. Ford’s latest SUV, the new generation Endeavour, has given the luxury SUV buyers a suitable option – big, modern and stylish. And it reflects in the sales numbers as the Endeavour overtakes the Fortuner despite its low production and waiting period that goes upto four months.

Losers

Ford Figo/Aspire

Ford’s compact twins have got a shocker this month. Sales figures of the hatchback and the compact sedans have trickled down to three digits – a 56 per cent drop for the hatch and almost a 70 per cent drop for the compact sedan. Ford says the production of the twins is going as per schedule and there have been no issues on the manufacturer's part.

Volkswagen Polo

The Polo sales are down to almost one third from the near 3,000 units it sold last month. Volkswagen says that due to logistical constraints and the German car maker’s focus on getting more Ameo sedans out on the road, the company has not despatched as many Polo hatchbacks. We will have to wait for a couple of months to find out if the 2200 Ameo sales are from the Polo pie or not.

Mahindra KUV100

The Mahindra KUV started with a bang, registering more than 3,000 sales in its first month and grew steadily to breach the 5,000 mark within just two months. But considering the last three months, sales have shrunk from 5,097 units in April to 4,446 in May, 3,543 in June and 2,964 in July 2016. After the initial rally, the popularity of Mahindra’s sub compact SUV seems like taking a hit.