'Tried & Tested' rules the Automobile market

The older models of cars are still the largest selling cars in India. Take for example Maruti Alto, Maruti WagonR, Maruti 800 and Hyundai Santro. The other old favourites among the Indian buyers include Mahindra Bolero, Ford Ikon, Hyundai Accent and Tata Indica. Hyundai Accent was to be phased out gradually but the company managed to find more than 1,200 buyers every month in India. On the other hand, the newer car models like Logan sedan has to struggle to increase its sales. So what is the reason behind this constant sales of older models?

Earlier, the trend of owning a vehicle for a period of around 10-15 years has now changed and the period has come down to 3-5 years because of the newer technologies, increasing purchasing power and growing aspirations. The auto market is also expanding continuously. In other markets, most of the models have a limited shelf life but the automobile companies in India seldom see the old models phasing out. According to the car marketers, the customers always trust something that has been tried and tested and the simple answer lies with the credibility and affordability.

Alto, which is Maruti Suzuki's 10 year-old bestseller sells around 20,000 units. Its next bestseller is the Wagon R which is also a decade old model. It sells around 11,000-12,000 units every month. The M800 still sells around 2,000 units per month. In the small car market, the second-largest selling model is the Hyundai Santro which sells around 7,000 units a month. The stable sales of Santro have persuaded Hyundai to not phase out this model. Tata Indica also belongs to the same category of being an old model with good sales. Though the model Indica went through many changes like Indica V2, Indica V2 Xeta and Indica Vista but the fact is that Indica still sells around 11,000 units a month.