Maruti India still rules the hatchback segment

Hatchback cars are kind of an in thing these days. Even the international auto manufacturers, such as Volkswagen, Ford and Toyota are entering the Indian Auto Market with their premium hatchback cars. Even Honda is coming up with its premium hatchback known as Honda Brio.

So does that mean all these car makers will give Maruti India a run for their money in the small car segment? According to the gurus of the market, there are some cars that give a serious competition to new Maruti Swift diesel model, which include Toyota Etios Liva and yet to be launched Honda’s Brio.

Presently, Maruti India has some very successful models on the Indian roads, such as Maruti Wagon R, Maruti Alto, Maruti Zen Estilo and Maruti Swift. Maruti India actually takes on around 57% of the compact car bazaar in the country. On the other hand, about 48% of the market in the premium hatchback section is under Maruti India. However, it is a fact that newer hatchbacks like Volkswagen Polo, Ford Figo and recently launched Toyota Etios Liva are receiving  good response.

Conversely, another thing that these new players will have to keep in mind is that it is pretty much difficult to touch the volumes that Maruti India sells. Currently, the Indian Auto Market is waiting for the new Maruti Swift launch. It is expected that New Maruti Swift will be launched on 17th August 2011. It is being said that the new Maruti Swift diesel variant will come loaded with exciting news features, which might include in climate control, USB port, audio controls on steering wheel, 16 inch alloy wheels in ZDi and ZXi model, xenon headlights, push button start, Bluetooth connectivity and many more.

Maruti India again takes away the cake in the hatchback segment, as apart from Maruti Swift, it offers one more models in the same category, including Maruti Ritz, whereas auto maker like Toyota has only one model to be offered to its consumers.

Toyota India’s sales target is around selling 100,000 units of Toyota Etios and Toyota Etios Liva in 2012. But Maruti India proves again that it is the big daddy of Indian Auto market as Maruti sold Maruti Swift equal to the amount of Toyota is expecting to sell Toyota Etios and Liva in 2012. As far as the prices are concerned, Toyota Etios Liva comes at a lucrative price of Rs. 3.99 Lakh, which is just a little less than Maruti Ritz petrol variant and Maruti Swift petrol version. However, the new Maruti Swift price is expected to land between the price range of Rs. 6.8 Lakh to Rs.8 Lakh.

If figures are taken into account, Hatchback cars were sold like hot cakes this year. Maruti Swift grabbed 24% in market in premium hatchback segment in the time frame of January to May 2011. On the other hand, Hyundai i20 and Ford Figo grabbed 15% each and Maruti Ritz had around 12% of the sales in the hatchback segment.