Maruti's safe bet has always been its bread and butter model Maruti 800. Not any more. For the first time in May 2004, Alto -- the other small car from the Maruti stable -- zoomed past the M-800 to take the mantle of India's most favourite car.
Analysts say the Alto's manoeuvre is a remarkable feat for a car that made its debut only in 2000.
After being India's most favourite car for almost 20 years, the M-800 lost out to the new entrant Alto last month.
While 10,016 units of the M-800 were sold in May, Alto grabbed the top slot with sales of 10,373 units.
The Alto largely benefited from the cut in prices (by Rs 23,000) last September and the launch of the non-A/C model for a price Rs 230,000 in April 2004. Cheap financing boosted its sales further. The challenge ahead for Alto now is to sustain its growth and maintain its top ranking.
The Alto has six models to choose from. While an Alto Bharat-II non-metallic car is available for an ex-showroom price of Rs 232,966 in Mumbai (excluding registration and tax), the top-end Alto Spin LXi--Bharat II Metallic is priced at (ex-showroom, Mumbai) Rs 290,979.
The M-800, which debuted in December 1983, has been a success story mainly because of the love that the middle class showers on it.
For them, it has always been a car that has been affordable and reliable, and which does not cost much to maintain. The car's fine performance through the decades has also helped Maruti Udyog Ltd reap big profits, add volume sales, grow significantly, acquire goodwill and grab the largest market share in the Indian automobile sector.
Even the May sales figures show that the M-800 is not far behind the leader, the Alto, and might even overtake it to regain its crown.
In 2003-2004, Maruti Udyog Limited sold 167,561 units of the M-800, up from 143,322 units in 2002-2003.
MUL also has the distinction of selling 20,687 M-800 units in March 2003 -- the highest monthly sale by any single model in India -- beating its previous high of 18,735 units in August 1999.
The M-800's May figures suffered mainly due to the cut in the prices of the Alto. There is a very little difference between the two cars' prices and this makes the Alto a very attractive bargain. Car industry analysts feel the emergence of a lower-cost Alto may eventually hit the M-800 growth story, especially since MUL has said it will not phase out the M-800.
Eight M-800 models are available. You can buy the Maruti-800 Std - Bharat I non-metallic car for Rs 191,009 (ex-showroom, Mumbai), while the top-end model -- Maruti 800 Std with AC Bh-II Metallic -- will cost you Rs 236,247 (ex-showroom, Mumbai).
The Indica, the car which changed Tata Motors' fortunes, is India's third best-selling car with sales of 8,463 units in May 2004.
The turnaround for Indica happened in 2001. After selling 55,758 units of Indica in the first year of its operation (April-March 1999-2000), sales dipped to 44,545 units in the following year. Industry watchers pooh-poohed Tata Chairman Ratan Tata's thrust into the passenger car segment and said the foray may hurt the Tatas like never before.
But the Tata chairman's conviction vindicated his stand. The introduction of an upgraded Indica V-2 (Version 2) in February 2001 helped it regain lost ground and significantly improve its market share.
In 2001, the Indica emerged as the fastest-selling automobile when it clocked sales of 100,000 units in less than 18 months. In September and October 2001, it became the largest-selling car (with sales of more than 5,000 units in the B segment.
In 2003-04, Indica saw its volumes increase by 11 per cent over the previous year. Tata Motors also registered a 315 percent rise in exports in 2003-2004, including the export of 6,700 units of the Indica Rover brand to the United Kingdom.
Among the 11 Indica models, the Diesel Std (DL)
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