Sedans are no more the blue-eyed boys of the Indian automotive sector. They have been replaced by a number of SUV options in the market currently. Consumers now prefer road presence and ground clearance of an SUV rather than a smooth and compliant ride of a sedan.
This is clearly visible in the monthly sales of a sedan. For instance, the cumulative sales in the C-segment sedan space stood at 7,132 units which is much less than sales generated by Hyundai Creta (12,640 units) alone last month. Sales of mid-size sedans declined by 5 percent MoM, however, YoY sales increased by a decent 71 percent.
The C-segment sedan space was headed by Hyundai Verna with total sales of 2,778 units in March 2021. The Korean carmaker sold only 893 units of its mid-size sedan during the same period last year and 1,510 units in February 2021. This resulted in YoY and MoM growth of 211 percent and 36 percent respectively.
It was followed by Maruti Suzuki Ciaz with 1,628 units sold last month. With 1,863 units of Ciaz sold in March 2020 and 1510 units in February 2021, it witnessed YoY degrowth of 13 percent and MoM growth of 8 percent.
Skoda Rapid jumped to third place with a total sales of 903 units. The sales figures of the sedan from the Czech automaker stood at 180 units in March last year while in February this year it sold 614 units. This translates to YoY and MoM growth of 402 percent and 47 percent respectively.
Toyota Yaris trailed Rapid at the fourth spot with recorded sales of 871 units last month. Last year during the same month, the Japanese carmaker was able to sell only 424 units of the sedan resulting in an impressive growth of 105 percent. In February 2021, the numbers stood at 657 units, therefore, witnessing MoM growth of 33 percent.
The most surprising thing to come out of this report is that segment leader Honda City slipped down to the fifth spot with only 815 units sold last month. It only registered a marginal growth of 4 percent and a sizable fall in MoM sales by 68 percent. The staggering fall in sales is mainly attributed to the global shortage of semiconductor chips.
Volkswagen Vento came in last with only 137 units of the sedan sold by the German carmaker. It witnessed a 621 percent rise in YoY sales since only 19 units of Vento were retailed in March 2020. Whereas its YoY sales declined by 26 percent with 186 units sold in February this year.