Ford EcoSport, Hyundai Creta, Maruti Ciaz drive sales in the Rs 8 to 10 lakh segment in January

Car sales in January saw good improvement with a 10.83% growth in sales during the month, from one of the largest declines in December 2016 due to the impact of demonetisation. However, the C2 car segment saw a large growth during the month of January. The segment saw a 22.8% growth in January 2017 as sales grew to 48,100 units from 39,145 units sold in the same month last year, according to data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

Passenger vehicles priced between Rs 8 lakh to Rs 9.5 lakh are placed in the C2 segment.

The segment was driven by high sales from cars such as Ford EcoSport, Hyundai Creta and Maruti Suzuki Ciaz. These three cars saw an over 20% growth in sales during the month.

Ford EcoSport's sales grew by 23.4% in January 2017 as against the same month last year. Even on a month-on-month basis EcoSport posted a large 141.1% growth in sales during the month. It sold 3,761 units during January 2017 from 3,047 units in January 2016. EcoSport has only sold 1,560 units in December 2016, as its sales was impacted due to demonetisation.

Hyundai Creta sales grew by 20.2% in January from the same month last year and posted a 20.6% growth from a month earlier. The car maker sold 7,918 units of Creta during January 2017 in comparison to 6,589 units in January 2016 and sold 6,563 units in December 2016.

Maruti Suzuki's Ciaz too saw a 20.2% growth in sales during January from the same month last year. It posted an even higher month-on-month sales of 76% from December 2016. Sales of the sedan grew to 6,530 units in January 2017 from 5,431 units sold in January 2016. In December 2016 it sold 3,711 units, as sales had slumped to an all new low.

Mahindra Scorpio, which also falls in the category, also saw a growth in sales, although it was in single digits. Sales of the Scorpio grew to 9.3% in January as it sold 4,387 units as against 4,013 units sold in January 2016. It sold 3,556 units in December 2016.

Maruti Suzuki's S-Cross posted only a 3.8% growth in sales during January as it grew to 2,109 units this year from 2,032 units in the same month last year.

All the other cars in the segment saw declines in their sales during the month. This includes the Fiat Linea, Honda City, Hyundai Verna, Mahindra TUV300, Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, Nissan Terrano, Renault Duster, Skoda Rapid, Tata Safari Storme and Volkswagen Vento.

While Fiat Linea saw a 34.8% decline in sales, Honda BRV decline by 8.9% MoM, Hyundai Verna posted a 26.7% decline in sales during January 2017, Mahindra TUV300 declined by 36.9%, even Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza declined by 0.4% MoM, Nissan Terrano sales slumped by 49%, Renault Duster declined by 5.2%, Skoda Rapid saw a 8.1% decline in sales, Tata Safari Storme declined by 25.1% and Volkswagen declined by 61%.