Maruti Celerio Tops Hyundai Santro In Demand, WagonR Leads Segment In May 2019

The compact hatchback segment on the whole saw a drop in MoM demand by 7.76 per cent

• WagonR is the only car in this segment to post a positive growth in month-on-month (MoM) demand in May 2019.

• Celerio is the second most popular car in May 2019 in terms of sales, even more popular than the Santro.

• Santro’s sales fell below the 5000 mark for the first time ever since its introduction in 2018.

• Tiago’s demand worst hit, sales down by over 33 per cent.

• Ignis and Datsun GO make the bottom of this segment. GO’s market share below 1 per cent in May.

The compact hatchback segment in India experienced a 7.76 per cent drop in sales in the month of May 2019 compared to April. Apart from the WagonR, which is also the most popular car in this segment in terms of sales, no other car posted a positive growth in MoM demand in May 2019. In terms of year-on-year (YoY) demand as well, all cars apart from the WagonR saw a downward trend. Have a look at the table below and our analysis further down to know more about the trends in the segment.

WagonR takes a bigger lead than before: In the last month, the WagonR was ahead of the Santro, which was the second most popular car, by about 5000 units. In comparison, the WagonR’s sales for the month of May 2019 exceed those of the second most popular car’s (Celerio’s) by over 9000 units. It is the most popular car in this segment and its popularity has grown compared to what it was even in May 2018.

Celerio’s sales and popularity drops: While the Celerio managed to beat the Santro on the popularity chart in the month of May, its MoM and YoY performance has actually gone down.

Santro’s sales below 5000 units for the first time after reintroduction: For every 100 people buying a compact hatchback in India in May 2019, about 16 have opted for the Santro. This number has dropped down from 25 people buying the Santro in April 2019.

Tiago is the worst hit: Demand for the Tiago in May 2019 dropped by over 33 per cent with its sales hitting around 3500 units for the month. This is the lowest sales that the Tiago has posted in the last one year!

Ignis sales drop by over 24 per cent: The Maruti Suzuki Ignis is also hit by the overall downward market trend and its popularity has gone down by over 24 per cent in May compared to what it was in April 2019. Now that Maruti Suzuki has introduced mobile Nexa showrooms, it will be interesting to see how these impact the sales of the Ignis.

Datsun GO sales below 250 units now: Of the 100 people who bought a compact hatchback in May 2019, only 1 person opted for the GO! Datsun introduced ESC (electronic stability control) in the GO in June, making it the only car in this segment to get this feature. We appreciate Datsun’s focus on safety and we’re keen to see how the addition of this feature would impact the GO’s popularity in June.

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