Nissan Terrano Prices To Be Announced On 9th October

Prices of Nissan's much awaited SUV Terrano will be announced on 9th of October.  These are expected to be slightly higher than Renault's Duster.  

Duster Dwindles as Ecosport Rises

Duster, when launched in India, changed the fortunes of Renault as it has been the only successful car from it. People thronged the Renault showrooms to grab this small SUV which at that time seemed so affordable.  Soon, long waiting lines were formed and inspite of price hike by the company, this SUV was in demand and waiting continued.  

Meanwhile, news of Ecosport coming soon was out but that coming soon was not 'soon' as Ford continued to test this much talked about smaller SUV.  Tests were conducted for a quite long time and ultimately in June this year, Ford released it at a price that startled the consumers and market pundits. The line of people waiting outside the Renault showrooms shifted to Ford showrooms. People loved the exterior, build quality and also the interior. Demand was so high that Ford had to stop bookings for certain variants.  It also raised prices.  But the Ecosport has continued ahead of its rival i.e. Duster which has come down from more than 6000 units in March 2013 to less than 3000 in August 2013. The graph below shows this decline -

On the other hand, Ecosport started with 4000 units in June this year and has now gone up to 5300 units during August 2013. But because of supply constraints, Ford is unable to meet the demand and some of the prospective buyers are cancelling their bookings which is not a good thing for the company.

Honda Urban SUV Testing on Autobahn

Honda has started testing its SUV, a rival to Ford's Ecosport, on the Autobahn in Germany.

This SUV will be unveiled in Tokyo Motor Show this year.

Top 10 Best Selling Cars in India - August 2013

Following is the list of top ten best selling cars in India during August 2013.  All figures have been rounded off to nearest 100.

Suzuki Alto           17100
Suzuki Swift          14200
Suzuki Dzire         13700
Suzuki Wagon R   12700
Hyundai Eon          8000
Mahindra Bolero    7000
Honda Amaze        6200
Hyundai i10           6000
Hyundai i20           5700
Ford Ecosport        5400

In spite of fierce competition from other manufacturers, Suzuki India has maintained its lead in the car market with a very big margin. It has a market share of 42 per cent against its nearest rival i.e. Hyundai which has a share of 16 per cent. The Hindustan Motors-Mitsubishi combine is at the bottom of this list with just 173 units and second from the bottom is Fiat with 1003 units sold during the month.

Ford's small SUV Ecosport has once again blasted its rival Renault's Duster comfortably by selling 5400 units against Duster's 3000 units. Last month, these figures were 4700 (Ecosport) and 3100 (Duster). The difference is increasing. Terrano needs to come early and come reasonably priced.

Government Stops Issuing Vehicle Registration Number If Total of Digits is 8

In Tamilnadu state, transport authorities have stopped issuing those registration numbers for vehicles whose four digits have a total of 8 like 5435, 2204 etc. However, this ban is not official as no specific orders have been issued by the government nor there is any rule prescribing this as official method.  This interesting step has been taken by the state government to curb the corruption in the Transport Department of this state.

In Tamilnadu, people consider number 8 as unlucky like 13 in some western countries. A majority of the people always avoided registration numbers whose total was 8 while applying for a registration number for their newly purchased vehicle. So, some of the greedy officials at the transport authority were indulging in corruption by offering the vehicle owners a vehicle number that was not unlucky, i.e. whose four digits did not have a total of 8.  In fact, there were some cases where transport officials intentionally offered only these so called unlucky numbers so that the vehicle owner was forced to shell out some money for avoiding these numbers.

Now, to avoid these cases, Transport Department has made an unofficial policy not to issue any of these unlucky registration numbers.  Those still interested in getting such a number can pay a premium and choose the number.

Ford stops bookings for Ecosport

Ford has been flooded with the bookings for Ecosport, its small SUV right from the day it was launched in June this year. In just two months time, the number of bookings have increased so much that now Ford has decided to stop booking for some time.  This SUV has three different engine options, a 1.5 liter diesel, another 1.5 liter petrol and the famous 1 liter Ecoboost petrol engine.

In India, it is the diesel version that was expected to be the most preferred choice and the same has been the reality.  Waiting periods have climbed to 8-12 months in different parts of the country.  This is inspite of the fact that economy is in doldrums.  The price of Ecosport is the biggest drawing factor and it is more attractive as no competition is neither present nor is likely to be seen in the near future. The gap between Ecosport and its rival Renault Duster is aroung 200,000 Rupees which is quite significant.  Further, the soon coming Terrano from Nissan is not likely to be price competitive either.

Top Ten Best Selling Cars in India - July 2013

Following is the list of top ten best selling cars in India during July 2013.  All figures have been rounded off to nearest 100.

Suzuki Alto          18200
Suzuki Dzire         15200
Suzuki Wagon R  13400
Suzuki Swift         10500
Mahindra Bolero    7000
Hyundai Eon          6900
Hyundai i10           6700
Honda Amaze        6500
Hyundai i20           5400
Ford Ecosport       4700

Ecosport has entered the top ten list and left its rival Renault Duster well behind which sold 3100 units during the same month.

Hyundai i10 or Honda Brio

Our reader Gurpreet Singh has asked the following question -
I am considering i10. Is is a good car compared to Brio?

Our opinion* -

It is certainly good at the price along with the discounts it is available for.  But there are certain other considerations which make Brio a better car. The first one is the mileage issue.  Although i10 claims a mileage of 20 plus and Brio 19 plus, it is Brio which is winner in this area.  The second thing is that Honda engines as well as their cars are very reliable.  Besides this, the width of i10 is 1595 mm whereas Brio has 1680 mm of width.  This difference of 8.5 cm is significant when fifth passenger sits in the car.  Further, the ride quality in Brio is just decent but is certainly better than i10, thanks to its tyre size of 13" compared with Brio's 14".  In view of these, I would recommend Brio.

*The opinion presented is based on the summary of general opinion of users of these two cars, as expressed on various forums.

Top Ten Best Selling Cars in India - February 2013

Following is the list of top ten best sellers in India during the month of February 2013.  Figures have been rounded off to nearest 100 -

1.  Suzuki Alto (25000)
2.  Suzuki Swift (19500)
3.  Suzuki Dzire (18300)
4.  Suzuki Wagon R (13600)
5.  Mahindra Bolero (10100)
6.  Hyundai Eon (8700)
7.  Hyundai i10 (8200)
8.  Hyundai i20 (7600)
9. Toyota Innova (6500)
10. Suzuki Ertiga (5800)


Top car companies in terms of market share -
1. Suzuki (46 per cent)
2. Hyundai (16 per cent)
3. Mahindra (11 per cent)
4. Toyota (6 per cent)
5. Tata (5 per cent)

With this, Toyota has stepped up to fourth position leaving behind Tata which just some time ago was at no. 3.  Suzuki sold 98000 cars during this month.  Fiat was on the last step with just 202 cars sold (42 Linea and 160 Punto).

Top Ten Best Selling Cars in India - January 2013

Following is the list of top ten best sellers in India during the month of January 2013.  Figures have been rounded off to nearest 100 -

1.  Suzuki Alto (28700)
2.  Suzuki Swift (18900)
3.  Suzuki Dzire (17100)
4.  Suzuki Wagon R (15000)
5.  Mahindra Bolero (10700)
6.  Hyundai i20 (8700)
7.  Hyundai i10 (8600)
8.  Hyundai Eon (8300)
9.  Tata Indica (7300)
10. Toyota Innova (6100)


Top car companies in terms of market share -
1. Suzuki (45 per cent)
2. Hyundai (15 per cent)
3. Mahindra (12 per cent)

Suzuki sold 103000 cars during this month.  Fiat was on the last step with just 347 cars sold (75 Linea and 272 Punto).

Ford Ecosport : Why this delay?

Ford has generated much curiosity about its mini-SUV i.e. Ecosport in India.  While many people have seen Ecosport testing on roads here without any kind of covering, nobody really knows when this much anticipated SUV will be in market.  Ford has already launched Ecosport in Brazil and China but the most promising automobile market in the world i.e. India is yet to see this in the showrooms.  Sources have revealed that the reason for this delay is that Ford is waiting for the central budget to be made public which will be presented before Parliament in February end.  In India, the pricing of cars is quite dependent on government policies with respect to fuel.  While petrol prices are now controlled by market factors, prices for diesel are still subsidiesed and under the control of central government.  In the recent times, government has given indications that it will deregulate the diesel prices and in fact started the process with a very mild increase in its price which will be a regular feature every month. 

At present, car companies have been puting price tag of diesel cars at a premium compared to petrol cars.  Most of the diesel cars were available only after some waiting time, running into sometimes 7-8 months after booking, while same model was available off the shelf in its petrol version.  In view of this, demands were raised that diesel vehicles should be taxed heavily as the subsidy on diesel was meant for farmers and transporters.

Ford, considering these facts, is waiting to hear government's budget proposals.  So, the launch of Ecosport is not expected before March.