With rising sales, team Altroz has found new confidence to mock rivals on social platforms
The tweet reads – “mportant! ALTROZ beats t’s rval n Q1 FY-22 wth an mpressve margn. ndans are choosng nda’s safest hatch. t s an ncredble feelng to drve the dstance wth your support. There are 20 ‘i’ missing here. For ALTROZ made it disappear.” Deciphering it in numbers, total sales of Altroz in April to June 2021 period stood at 15,895 units. Sales in April, May and June were 6649, 2896 and 6350 units respectively.
In comparison, Hyundai i20 total sales during the three months were 14,775 units. Month wise numbers are 5002 in April, 3440 in May and 6333 units in June. A bit of math reveals that Altroz is ahead by a margin of 1120 units. This may not be much, but getting to the number two spot in premium hatch segment certainly calls for celebrations.
Hyundai i20 Ahead In H1 2020 Sales
When we compare sales of first 6 months, from Jan to June 2021 period, it is the Hyundai i20 which is ahead. For Jan to Mar 2021 period, Hyundai recorded sales of 26,551 while Tata Altroz registered sales of 21,760 in the same period. For Q1 2021, i20 leads by 4,791 units.
Total sales in H1 2021 for Hyundai i20 stood at 41,326 units while for Tata Altroz stood at 37,655 units. Here also, Hyundai i20 leads Altroz. Margin this time is 3,671 units. Below is the detailed sales table of the two for last 6 months.
5-star GNCAP safety rating
One of the key reasons for rising sales of Altroz is its 5-star safety rating from Global NCAP. There’s growing awareness about car safety among consumers. Moreover, carmakers have utilized every opportunity to market their superior safety features. Altroz is the second Tata car to get 5-star safety rating; the first being Nexon.
i20 packs in a comprehensive range of safety features, but it has not been tested by Global NCAP. The i20 model tested in 2015 by Euro NCAP had received 4-star safety rating. However, since safety regulations are different for different countries, we cannot assume a similar rating for India-spec i20.
Affordable pricing of Altroz is another factor that could be working in its favour. Altroz is available in the price range of Rs 5.80 lakh to Rs 9.56 lakh. In comparison, Hyundai i20 retails in the range of Rs 6.85 lakh to Rs 11.34 lakh. All prices are ex-showroom, Delhi.
Can’t ignore ground realities
While having some fun on social platforms seems okay, auto companies can’t afford to lose focus on ground realities. The real battle involves various other factors such as delivery timeline, dealership experience, after sales service, availability of spare parts, maintenance cost, running cost, warranty, etc.
It will be interesting to see if Hyundai will respond to Tata’s challenge. Altroz had mocked i20 earlier also prior to the launch of 3rd gen variant. At that time, Hyundai had responded, albeit in a largely restrained manner. As the current challenge is about numbers, Tata may have won a battle but Hyundai is still ahead in the war.
