5 Super Hit Cars launched in 2013-14

Snapshot – The fiscal year between March 2013 and 2014 won’t be remembered for high car sales but rather as a bleak period that saw the auto industry struggle as a whole in India. Yet, the 12 intervening months between March 2013 and 2014 saw a slew of super hit cars that took their makers from strength to strength. CarToq profiles five super hit cars, all in segments under 20 lakh rupees, which were launched in the twelve months between March 2013 and 2014 and the impact these cars had on their segments.

Maruti Suzuki Celerio

The Maruti Suzuki Celerio was launched in early 2014 and the car’s unique selling proposition was the automated manual transmission (AMT) it brought to the equation. The first-in-class feature has redefined how Indians look at automatic gearbox equipped cars and the Celerio AMT’s strong sales have prompted many a car maker in India to bet big on AMT technology.  The Celerio replaced two slow selling cars, the A-Star and Estilo in Maruti Suzuki’s line up and has been a much bigger success than both cars combined. Maruti Suzuki has managed to put  over 22,000 units of the Celerio on Indian roads in just 3 months of the car’s launch here.

Hyundai Grand i10

Replacing the hot selling i10 was a formidable task and Hyundai stepped up to the challenge by taking a unique approach. The car maker re-positioned the i10 into a lower price band and introduce the much larger and feature filled Grand i10 as the i10’s replacement in India. Well priced and loaded with features, the Grand i10 took off almost immediately and has never turned back since. The car, sold in petrol and diesel options, has mopped up sales of over 82000 units in just 8 months of its launch.

Honda Amaze

Honda’s first diesel car for India was the Amaze compact sedan, which was launched in April 2013, also was the car that resurrected the Japanese brand and put the Big H back into contention among the big boys of the Indian car market. The Amaze compact sedan, sold with petrol and turbo diesel engine options has been on a roll ever since except for a minor blip in April 2014. Honda has sold over 84,000 units of the Amaze in India, with the car becoming the second largest selling sedan in India, after the Maruti Dzire for the fiscal year 2013-14.

Hyundai Xcent

The Hyundai Xcent is a Grand i1o in sedan style and also the replacement to the Accent C-Segment sedan. The Xcent, sold with petrol and diesel engines, has started off strongly for Hyundai and sales of its direct competitors, the Maruti Dzire and the Honda Amaze, have seen almost immediate dips. The Xcent is a very recent launch in India, what with a March 2014 launch. In barely a month of its launch, the car has seen an offtake of over 10,000 units, pointing towards strong sales numbers indeed.

Honda City

Like the Hyundai Xcent, the 2014 Honda City is also one of the more recent of car launches in India. Within weeks of launch, the City sedan retook the best seller status from the Hyundai Verna and is now firmly entrenched as the best selling C-Segment sedan in India. The City was launched in January 2014 and Honda has managed to put over 31,000 units of the C-Segment sedan on Indian roads.  An average of over 7,500 monthly units is greater than even the best selling SUVs and the figures reflect the measure of success that the City sedan has had in such a short duration. The City sedan is available with petrol and turbo diesel engine options.