Nearly 30 new car, 20 two-wheeler launches lined up till March 2020

Rise of the millennial population, increasing disposable income and availability of innovative mobility solutions will drive the market.

Passenger vehicle (PV) and two-wheeler sales in the country have been bleak in the past few months, despite inquiries being good, due to poor consumer sentiment. To create excitement among consumers, especially during festivals, car manufacturers have lined up around 25-30 launches and two-wheeler makers have lined up another 20 between August 2019 and March 2020. The new launches include electric and hybrid vehicles.

On an average, car makers, excluding luxury ones, invest around Rs 1,500-2,000 crore to launch a new car.

Two-wheeler and PV retail sales dropped by five per cent and 4.6 per cent, respectively, in June 2019, compared to last year.

CARE Ratings says that demand might remain muted till the second quarter before it starts picking up from the third quarter due to festival and pre-buying before BS-VI implementation from April 1, 2020. Also, with higher MSPs announced, farm income is expected to be marginally higher and encourage rural spending.

To cash in on this, car makers have lined up nearly 25-30 new launches. Some of them include Maruti Suzuki Ertiga Cross and S-Presso, Hyundai New Grand i10, Tucson Facelift and Hyundai New Elite i20. Honda would be launching Honda HR-V and New City, while Tata would introduce the Buzzard and Altroz. Skoda expects to launch Karoq, and Renault to launch Renault Triber and Kwid Facelift.

Vikas Jain, national sales head, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, said that sometimes, a slowdown in the market is a cyclical phenomenon. Due to practical challenges such as volatility in fuel prices, high interest rates and increase in insurance premium, some of the buyers are deferring their purchase decision.

The long-term outlook is good considering that the penetration of PVs in India is still very low at around 20 out of 1,000 people. The rise of the young millennial population, increasing disposable income and availability of innovative mobility solutions will drive the market.

Business Standard

Maruti's Dzire overtakes Alto as best selling PV model in July 2018

Another popular model Baleno from the stable of MSI came fourth in the list with 17,960 units last month. The premium hatchback was ranked second in the year-ago month with 19,153 units.

Maruti Suzuki India's (MSI) compact sedan Dzire became the best selling passenger vehicle (PV) model in July in India, overtaking entry-level small car Alto from the company's stable.

According to the latest data from Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Maruti Dzire occupied the top slot by selling 25,647 units in July as compared to 14,703 units in the same month a year ago, when it was the fifth best selling model.

Alto, on the other hand, moved to the second spot with 23,371 units last month from the first position in the corresponding month last year, when it sold 26,009 units.

MSI's popular hatchback Swift was the third best selling PV model last month with 19,993 units as compared to 13,738 units last year, ranked sixth.

Another popular model Baleno from the stable of MSI came fourth in the list with 17,960 units last month. The premium hatchback was ranked second in the year-ago month with 19,153 units.

Continuing MSI's dominance in the Indian PV market, the company's compact car WagonR came fifth last month with 14,339 units. It was ranked third in the same month last year with 16,301 units.

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MSI's compact SUV Vitara Brezza was the sixth best selling model last month with 14,181 units, moving down from fourth in the year-ago month when it sold 15,243 units.

Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) lived up to its tag as the second largest PV manufacturer in the country with three of its models -- Elite i20, Grand i10, and Creta -- coming in at number seven, eight and nine, respectively.

In July, HMIL's premium hatchback Elite i20 moved up one place to seventh last month by selling 10,822 units from eighth last year when it sold 11,390 units.

The company's compact car Grand i10 came in at number eight last month with 10,775 units. The model was in the seventh position last year with 12,002 units.

HMIL's popular SUV Creta occupied the ninth position with 10,423 in July 2018, as against 10,556 units in the same month last year, when it was the tenth best selling model.

Honda Cars India's newly launched compact sedan Amaze made it to the top ten list last month with 10,180 units.

Article Source BS

Audi India set to launch luxury electric car with superior mileage in 2020

Company plans to offer cars that can do 400 km on a single charge, as opposed to existing EVs that can run 150 km at most.

German luxury car maker  Audi  is getting ready to launch a luxury electric vehicle (EV) in the country in 2020. It is working on training of employees and dealers. The company said dealerships will need to have a charging station as well. It plans to sell EVs at select dealerships in few cities depending on the progress in charging infrastructure to begin with.

“The government has clearly sent a message that EV is the future and not hybrids while introducing the GST last year. For the past nine months, we have been working heavily on the infrastructure. We have set up a task force called Electrified India within the company to work on the EV launch in India,” Rahil Ansari, Head, Audi India told Business Standard.

Ansari said EV is the future for Audi globally. “Globally, we are launching four EVs by 2020. By 2025, a lot more models will be added. Our expectation is that Audi will sell 800,000 EVs globally a year in 2025, which should then be roughly one-third of global volume. We are in a position to launch an EV in 2020 latest here in India but we will do so once the infrastructure is in place and there is clarity on all fronts. Launching is the easiest part,” he added.

Audi is working on training its employees and dealerships on electric vehicles. Dealerships need wiring, charging stations. “We have been training people at Audi India. We will work on these over next one and half year. We will not sell it everywhere in the country and not at all the dealerships,” he said. Many others mass and luxury players are expected to launch EVs in India in 2020. Country’s biggest car maker Maruti Suzuki is working with Japanese peer Toyota to launch an electric vehicle in India in 2020. Homegrown auto majors Tata Motors and M&M are the only companies that are producing electric cars in India at this point.

The government said in February it will not bring a dedicated electric vehicle policy but it is working on a new auto policy that will also set an agenda for environment friendly vehicles. Ansari said a central policy would have been ideal though the government has decided not to have one. “The industry could have worked according to framework. Suppose we launch an EV in 2020 and in 2021 a policy opposes the product. We always run that risk so it always helps to have a policy”.

Ansari said that Audi EVs will not be similar to the ones that are being sold in the country at this point. “The locally developed ones have a reach of 90-120 km after one charge and may go up to 150km. At Audi, we are talking about 400 km-plus distance with one charge. If you drive smoothly you might be able to do a round trip between Mumbai and Pune on one charge”, he said.