Maruti Suzuki Swift was the best-selling car in the compact hatchback segment and the Baleno in the premium segment for Feb 21
If the latest car sales figures are anything to go by, it may be seen that sales are emerging out of the lull noted over the past several months of the COVID-19 pandemic and even a few months before that. Total car sales have even surpassed that of Feb 2020 primarily due to more demand for personal means of travel.
When assessing segment wise car sales in the past month, it may be seen from the attached tables that models in the Compact Hatchback Segment were the most in demand. This segment noted the biggest growth in terms of volumes, contributing 22 percent to total passenger car sales. Total sales in this segment stood at 67,879 units in Feb 21, up 3 percent from 65,657 units sold in Feb 20.
The Maruti Suzuki Swift was the best seller in this segment with 20,264 units sold in Feb 21, up 8 percent as against 18,696 units sold in Feb 20. Maruti Suzuki also had the WagonR, Celerio and Ignis on this list while Hyundai i10 and Santro and Tata Tiago and Ford Figo also found some buyers during the past month.
Compact SUV Segment 95 Percent Growth
Compact SUV Segment noted the highest YoY sales growth in Feb 21. Total sales in this segment stood at 54,850 units, up 95 percent as against 28,169 units sold in Feb 20. In this segment, it was the Maruti Vitara Brezza that commanded the list with 11,585 units sold, a 69 percent growth over 6,866 units sold in Feb 20.
The Hyundai Venue and Tata Nexon also posted positive sales with Nexon sales up 104 percent to 7,929 units in Feb 21, over 3,894 units sold in Feb 20. Newcomers to this list included the Renault Kiger, Nissan Magnite and Toyota Urban Cruiser.
Where sales of Premium Hatchbacks were concerned, the past month has seen a growth of 33 percent to 42,724 units, up from 32,015 units sold in Feb 20. In this segment, the Maruti Suzuki Baleno was the highest seller with 20,070 units sold in the past month, an increase of 21 percent over 16,585 units sold in Feb 20.
Hyundai i20 also contributed 9,001 units to total sales while the Tata Altroz noted a 143 percent increase to 6,832 units, over 2,806 units sold in the same month of the previous year. VW found its Polo premium hatchback much in demand with a 1245 percent sales increase to 1,937 units.
Hyundai Creta best seller in Mid-SUV segment
Taking into account the Mid-SUV Segment, a growth of 83 percent was recorded in Feb 21 to 36,917 units, up from 20,197 units sold in Feb 20. Here it was the Hyundai Creta that commanded the list with 12,428 units sold, a 1675 percent increase over just 700 units sold in Feb 20 ahead of Kia Seltos, MG Hector and Mahindra Scorpio. The Hector had received a facelift in Jan 21 followed by the Hector Plus 7 seater which expanded the SUV range.
Sales in the Entry Level Hatchback Segment dipped 11 percent in Feb 21, down to 28,775 units, as against 32,199 units sold in Feb 20. It was the Maruti Alto and S-Presso along with the Renault Kwid and Datsun Go that featured in this list with only the Datsun Go experiencing positive growth. MUV sales dipped 14 percent while that of compact sedans increased 18 percent to 23,478 units with the Maruti DZire and Tata Tigor posting positive sales.
Honda City and Hyundai Verna ruled the mid-size Sedan Segment which saw total sales of 7,538 units in Feb 21, up 30 percent as against 5,787 units sold in Feb 20. In the premium SUV segment which noted a 53 percent increase to 3,569 units in Feb 21, the Toyota Fortuner and Ford Endeavour were most in demand while the VW Tiguan noted the highest percentage increase of 133 percent with 63 units sold in the past month. The recently introduced MG Gloster added 463 units to total sales.
The Mahindra Thar in the Lifestyle Off-roader segment saw 2,840 units sold, up 3960 percent over 70 units sold in Feb 20. The Maruti Gypsy, which was also once a major contributor to this segment, has been discontinued while Maruti Suzuki confirms that the Jimny is under evaluation for India.
Demand for Premium Sedans dipped 91 percent to 42 units in Feb 21 with the Hyundai Elantra contributing 40 units and only 2 units of the Skoda Octavia being sold. The Luxury Sedan and Premium Sedan segments recorded YoY de-growth of 6 percent and 91 percent respectively in Feb 21.
