Top Ten Cars in India - June 2015

The car sales figures in India for the month of June 2015 are out and again Suzuki has remained undisputed number 1. Out of the top 10 cars, first four positions are held by Suzuki. The gap between Suzuki and other competitors is still massive. Hyundai at No. 2 is having just 17 per cent market share against 48 per cent share of Suzuki. Among other car makers, Honda has once again jumped to No. 3 position leaving behind Mahindra at No. 4. Toyota and Tata are at No. 5 and 6 respectively. Graph below shows the top 10 cars sold in India in June 2015:

With the launch of Jazz, Honda has one more product in its store to fight with Hyundai. Jazz is pitted against i20 who is in great demand along with its smaller sibling i10.

In spite of all the efforts by Hyundai and other car manufacturers, Suzuki has only strengthened its position in the market. With the upcoming launches of its S-Cross and premium hatchback YRA, it is only expected to make the gap bigger. Hyundai is brining its small SUV Creta, but that is not expected to create enough volumes.

For others like Fiat, Renault, Nissan; they seem to be here only to show that they exist.

The Interesting No. 3

It is very interesting. Suzuki is the undisputed number 1 in India in terms of car sales. For many years, it has been retaining this crown and in the near future, we are not able to see a possibility of anybody else (whether Hyundai or Honda or Mahindra) overtaking Suzuki.

Suzuki is just miles ahead of competition. The gap between it and others are just too wide. The number 2 is Hyundai which is bombarding the market intermittently with new models to be in the race.

Now, the number three comes into the picture. Who is number three? It is regularly switchable between Honda and Mahindra. For a month, Honda is no. 3 and for next month, Mahindra gets this position. 

So, what is interesting? 

Interesting thing is that at no. 3 is Suzuki. 

How it can be? Is not Suzuki no. 1?

Yes, Suzuki is no. 1 as far new cars sold are concerned. At no. 3 is Suzuki's used car business called 'True Value'. 

A report in the Business Standard says:

Maruti Suzuki is not only the country’s largest passenger vehicle company. If you go by volumes of pre-owned cars sold, it occupies the third slot in the passenger vehicle industry. Maruti’s pre-owned or used car business has grown to a record 358,000 units (in 2014-15).

The sheer volume of units sold, makes True Value (Maruti’s pre-owned car business) the third-largest domestic passenger vehicle seller (irrespective of new or old) after Maruti (at 1.17 million) and Hyundai Motor (at 420,000).

If things remain so, one day, probably Suzuki at no. 1 will be staring at itself for competition in the form of its old car business at no. 2.  

Honda BR-V: Coming Soon to India?

Honda has hinted that there is strong possibility of the introduction of its compact SUV BR-V in India next year. The company had released a couple of design sketches and few other details of this SUV a few days ago. It is expected that the crossover will be based on the versatile Brio platform, but media speculations are on rife that the vehicle could also use the Jazz platform. The later platform is more expensive of the two.

Honda officials said that the Honda BR-V is more appropriate to take the base of Jazz. If this statement turns into reality, the BR-V will be the fourth Honda to be based on the premium hatchback platform. Currently, the City, the HR-V or Vezel and the Shuttle use the Jazz platform.

Interestingly, Honda Car India has imported three units of the Brio SUV in India for R&D (Research & Development) purpose. It is expected that the BR-V is the Brio SUV, which is expected to make Indian debut at the 2016 Delhi Motor Show. However, nothing concrete on the same has been revealed by the manufacturer.

In India, Honda is likely to use the Brio platform to price the crossover competitive to the market. The Jazz platform is comparatively more expensive than the Brio; however, Honda Car India manages to achieve over 90 per cent of localisation.

This compact SUV will be a seven-seater car and will be powered by Honda's tried and tested 1.5-litre i-VTEC petrol motor as well as the recently developed 1.5 litre diesel engine. 

Honda CBR 650F coming to India on 4 August

Honda is all set to increase its fleet of big bikes in India. It is going to introduce CBR 650F to India on 4 August this year. Of the more than a dozen motorcycle launches likely to happen this year from Honda, this will be its biggest machine. Other probables are CBR 300R, CBR 500R, 300F, 500F and some scooters.

Honda is at present number 2 in the two wheeler market in India, competing fiercely with Hero Moto, who is sitting on the top. Once upon a time, Hero was the partner of Honda in two wheeler production. While Hero is mass market leader, Honda is good both in simple, commuter two wheelers and bigger motorcycles.

CBR 650F is powered by a four cylinder engine pumping out 86 bhp power and 62 NM of torque. Its main rivals will be Ninja 650 from Kawasaki and TNT 600 from Benelli. Localisation level for CBR650F will be around 10 per cent and hence, price of this machine is not expected to be very competitive. It is expected to be more than Rs. 7,00,000 on road. That kind of price tag will be a negative as Ninja 650 is quite attractive in terms of price.

Honda had announced in October last year that it will start making the CBR 650F in India, which will allow the company to price the bike competitively. However, Honda is yet to finalise the facility where it will manufacture the bike. The bookings for this machine are now officially open with a booking amount of Rs. 50,000. This will be sold initially at 20 dealerships across the country but all the colours will not be available as Honda intends to start with only one colour. Depending on the market reaction, other colours will be introduced.

Honda launches Jazz in India

Honda has finally launched Jazz in India. This has become a much awaited car, owing to the growing demand for premium hatchbacks. While the earlier edition of Jazz proved to be a dud because of high price and absence of diesel heart, this time Honda has tried to remove these two shortcomings.

 

Jazz starts at Rs. 5,30,000 which is in line with the price of its rival Hyundai's i20. However, for higher models, Jazz price is significantly higher then i20 models. Apparently, Honda is charging a premium for its brand reputation in India. i20 is a very successful model in its new avatar called elite i20. It will have to be seen how market reacts to these price differences created by Honda.

 

Jazz now comes in both petrol and diesel versions. Petrol is 1.2 lt. and diesel is 1.5 lt capacity. Jazz also have the option of automatic transmission, which is in good demand for increasing traffic volume in cities.