Maruti Suzuki India Limited was the most successful automaker in the passenger vehicle segment in 2018. The brand outsold every other auto brand in the country by a huge margin and it was 13 of the company models that commanded the list of 30 best selling cars during the past year.
Maruti Suzuki’s DZire, Alto, Swift, Baleno and Brezza commanded the top five spots on the list of top 30 best selling cars during 2018. The most sold car was the DZire with a total of 2,64,612 units sold during the 12 month period up 7.9 percent as compared to sales in 2,25,043 units in 2017.
In second spot was the Maruti Suzuki Alto which dropped a top spot from 2017 to No. 2 on the 2018 list of best selling car models. Alto sales during the past year stood at 2,56,661 units while sales of the Swift, Baleno and Brezza were at 2,23,630 units, 2,10,236 units and 1,55,466 units respectively.
At No. 6, the Maruti Suzuki reign continued with the WagonR with 1,52,020 units sold while at No, 10 was the Maruti Celerio with 1,00,957 units sold. Maruti Suzuki Omni, which will soon be discontinued, featured at No. 12 and saw sales of 86,257 units during the past year while Eeco at No. 14, saw sales to the extent of 84,565 units. At No. 18 was the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga with sales of 56,408 units. The Ertiga was at No. 17 on this list in 2017 with 68,354 units sold. This was followed by the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, Ignis and S-Cross at Nos 21, 23 and 27, with sales of 50,759, 43,602 and 41,528 units respectively.
Hyundai Motors India Limited followed with the next best selling automaker leaving all others out of the top 10 list in 2018 as was also seen through 2017. Hyundai saw the i20 Elite, i10 Grand and Creta at Nos. 7, 8 and 9. I20 Elite sales extended to 1,41,104 units in 2018 as against 1,34,103 units sold in 2017. Hyundai i10 Grand lost position from No.6 in 2017 with 1,54,747 units sold to No. 8 last year with sales of 1,34,249 units sold. Hyundai Creta continued at the same No. 9 spot in 2017 and 2018 though sales increased from 1,05,484 units in 2017 to 1,20, 905 units in the past year. Hyundai Verna at No. 24 found mention on the list of top 30 best selling cars in 2018 while it was left out of the list in 2017. Sales in the past year stood at 42,605 units Hyundai Eon dropped position from No. 20 in 2017 with 61,627 to No. 26 in 2018 with 41,681. Hyundai Xcent also dropped position from No, 24 in 2017 with 41,491 units sold to No. 28 in 2018 with 41,476 units sold.
Tata Motors saw three of its model on the top 30 list for 2018 as against the sole Tata Tiago in 2017. Tata Tiago went from No. 16 in 2017 to No 11 in 2018 with 92,286 units sold. Tata Nexon at No. 19 reported sales of 52,519 units while a total of 29, 038 units of the Tata Tigor were sold in the past year.
Mahindra and Mahindra, leading SUV makers in the country had the Bolero and Scorpio on the list of top 30 best selling cars in 2018 while the TUV300 and XUV500 dropped out of the list altogether. Bolero continued its reign at No.11 in both the years with 81,494 units sold in 2017 and 85,464 units sold last year. Mahindra Scorpio went down from No. 21 in 2017 to No. 22 last year while sales also went down from 52,103 units in 2017 to 49,063 units in 2018.
Honda Cars India had the Amaze, City and WR-V on this list in 2018 with the Amaze gaining position from No. 27 in 2017 to No. 16 in 2018. Sales of this model saw a dramatic increase from 28,314 units to 67,563 units last year. City sales dipped from 62,573 in 2017 to 42,045 units in 2018 while Honda WR-V stood at No. 29 with sales of 36,835 units down a few spots from No.25 in 2017 with sales of 40,124 units.
Toyota had the Innova at No. 15, retaining its position in 2017 and 2018 with sales of 78,130 units last year while the Renault Kwid fell from its 11th spot on the 2017 list to No. 17 last year with sales of 66,815 units. The Ford EcoSport sales were at 51,973 units in 2018 with a No, 20 position as compared to No.23 position in 2017 with sales to the extent of 45,146 units.
Taking companywise positions and market share of top 30 cars into account, Maruti Suzuki commanded a 60 per cent market share in 2018 as compared to a 58 percent market share in 2017 while Hyundai continued with an 18 percent market share through both years. Tata Motors went up from 3 percent market share to 6 percent market share while Mahindra market share dipped from 7 percent in 2017 to 5 percent in 2018. Honda market share also dipped from 6 percent in 2017 to 5 percent in the past year while Toyota and Ford retained market share at 3 percent and 2 percent respectively.
In terms of body style, it was seen that the hatchbacks were among the most favorite buys during both 2017 and 2018 commanding a 55 percent and 50 percent market share respectively. SUVs continued their market share at 19 percent and 20 percent over the past 2 years while sedans saw an increase in market share from 15 percent to 19 percent over 2017 and 2018. MUVs however, retained market share at 11 percent over both years in question. Total sales registered by top 30 cars were at 29 lakh units. Here is the list of India’s least selling 30 cars for 2018.
