Luxury car sales in top gear, but hatchbacks hit the brakes
Cut to the small car segment. Sales of Maruti Suzuki Alto, which once dominated sales charts across segments, halved year on year in the quarter ended September at about 24,000 units.
Overall, sales of small cars (vehicles with length less than 3.6 metres) — already on the decline – crashed by 55% last quarter whereas sales of BMW X1 (which also comes in diesel and petrol options) grew 56% on year.
So, while those wanting to buy iX1 will have to wait till next year when fresh allocations will come in, there’s unsold two-month stock of Alto, Spresso, Celerio and other small cars.
“More and more people are entering the (luxury) segment. We have seen more first-time buyers come in this year than ever before,” BMW Group India president Vikram Pawah said.
According to him, 76% of the German luxury carmaker’s demand in India last quarter came from first-time buyers aged 31-45 years — the highest ratio seen in the last five years.
Even in the lower segments, several first-time buyers are opting for sports utility vehicles (SUVs) priced Rs 10 lakh and above.
However, the fall in small car sales is not all about bigger aspirations of young Indian consumers, industry executives said.
