Maruti Suzuki has commanded the list of 7 out of 10 models being long terms best sellers
Among the long list of automakers in India, there are 4 leading automakers that hold complete dominance over the sales charts. This trend has been seen over the past 10 years. Maruti Suzuki has been the country’s largest and most favoured automaker for the past 4 decades with more than 50 percent of car buyers in the country opting for Maruti Suzuki models.
Its portfolio is varied and caters to the demands of a range of customers in the country. New launches, facelifts and engine upgrades on a timely basis along with brand loyalty have kept the lineup exciting. Hyundai, Tata Motors and Mahindra are also three automakers in India that enjoy immense supremacy with their models being top rankers month after month and year after year.
The passenger vehicle segment sees sales of around 3 lakh units each month on an average. Of this, Maruti Suzuki claims about 50 percent market share. Taking best-selling cars over the past decade, it can be seen that 7 models are from Maruti Suzuki while 2 are from Hyundai and 1 is from Mahindra. Taking body styles into account, there are 5 hatchbacks, 2 sedans, 1 SUV and 2 minivans that have been consistent best sellers.
Maruti Suzuki Alto, DZire and Swift
Maruti Suzuki’s entry-level hatchback Alto enjoys the position as the most demanded hatchback car in India. It is regaled for its reliability and high level of fuel efficiency. It is not only favoured as a family car in urban areas but also high in demand across rural India.
| No | Top 10 Cars India 2011-2020 | % Sales |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maruti Alto | 19.66 |
| 2 | Maruti Dzire | 14.93 |
| 3 | Maruti Swift | 14.31 |
| 4 | Maruti WagonR | 12.22 |
| 5 | Hyundai i20 | 8.04 |
| 6 | Hyundai i10 | 6.93 |
| 7 | Mahindra Bolero | 6.77 |
| 8 | Maruti Baleno | 6.66 |
| 9 | Maruti EECO | 5.42 |
| 10 | Maruti Omni | 5.07 |
| – | Total | 100.00 |
With Maruti Suzuki continually striving to bring in better features and updated technology to the Alto, it has not lost its sheen over the past decade. Starting off with the Maruti 800 launched in 2000 and discontinued in 2014, the Alto’s future generations included the Alto, Alto 800, Alto K10 and Alto with 1000cc engine and in the year 2020 completed 16 years of being India’s favourite car. The affordable pricing from Rs 3.53-5.19 lakhs is also what keeps the demand for the Alto alive.
Maruti Suzuki DZire compact sedan is also among the top favourites among buyers in the country. It was introduced to appeal to buyers who wanted to upgrade from hatchback to sedans and particularly targeted the commercial taxi segments and ride sharing aggregators – Ola, Uber and Meru. The compact sedan based on the Swift was first launched in 2008 and crossed the 19 lakh unit sales mark in 2019, making it a major contributor to Maruti Suzuki’s journey. Maruti Dzire is currently offered with a choice of petrol engines with manual and AMT option ever since Maruti stopped production of its diesel engine from the onset of new BS6 norms, and is priced from Rs 6.97 – 10.44 lakh.
The Maruti Suzuki Swift 5 seater premium hatchback, available in a price range of Rs. 5.73 – 8.41 lakh has also seen consistent demand. It is specially preferred as an upgrade for Alto owners and appeals to buyers due to its lower maintenance cost and high fuel efficiency marking its decade long journey and the reasons for it being one of the most selling hatchbacks in India.
Top 10 Cars In India From 2011 to 2020
WagonR compact hatchback is way ahead of its competitors, Tata Tiago and Datsun GO in terms of sales. It continues to hold command among a set of loyal buyers in the country and in reached 1 lakh sales milestone in 2004 and in 2017 sales stood at 20 lakh units to cross the 24 lakh unit mark in Dec 2019 after 2 decades of being on sale. The WagonR is priced from Rs 4.80-6.33 lakhs and offered in three trims of LXi, VXi, and ZXi powered by two petrol engine options of 1.0 liter and 1.2 liter mated to 5 speed manual and AMT gearbox. The company is also actively testing the WagonR EV that is on test in production ready format with launch date set for 2022.
The best-selling Hyundai car over the past decade has been the Elite i20. This 5 seater premium hatchback boasts of a Fluidic Sculpture 2.0 philosophy and Hyundai launched its new generation premium hatchback i20, which also helped the carmaker to bolster its sales figures.
The Hyundai Grand i10 was another top seller from the Hyundai stables that has been seeing increased demand over the past decade. This 5 seater hatchback has been taken off the company website since earlier this year but had a considerable fan following due to its outstanding design, excellent fit and features and besides being popular in domestic markets also found a fair set of buyers globally.
The Bolero entered the fray as a best-selling but only Mahindra model on the list of 10 cars that has garnered the attention of buyers over a 10 year period. It is regaled for its rugged design and ability to take on challenging terrain.
The Maruti Baleno sedan, Eeco pickup and Omni minivan were also on this list even as the Omni has since been discontinued after 35 years of service in this segment. The Baleno is sold via the company’s NEXA dealerships and is slotted in the lead among the company’s best sellers month after month. The Eeco, 7 seater, on the other hand has seen more demand ever since the Omni has been discontinued especially catering to large family, school and tourism segments
