Big’s Better: Top-end cars zip ahead of mass models with 56% growth

BIG CARS now spell big growth in India. When it comes to the car mart, the creamy layer is definitely top of the heap. The just-ended fisc may have seen top-gear growth across the product and price range, but the biggest gainers came from class segments rather than mass ones. According to industry data, the A4, A5 and A6 segments comprising bigger mid-size cars from the Honda Civic and Accord and Hyundai Sonata to the Mercedes Benz C, E and S Class, totted up the highest growth in the car market. At just short of 56%, it was more than double the industry average and miles ahead of the bulge-volume B-segment’s 31.4% tally. At 11.5-lakh units of domestic sales, the car industry totted up 22.2% growth in the year, up from 9.48 lakh units in the year-ago period. Executive, premium and luxury mid-size cars — representing the top-end of the sedan market and spanning price ranges stretching from Rs 8-9 lakh to 60 lakh — sold 43,197 units in FY06-07, nearly double its 27,722 unit tally the year before. The B-segment hatchback market — the second-biggest growth chunk in the car market with models like the Alto, Santro, Indica, Swift, Getz, U-VA among others — grew 31.4% at 7,5 3,138 units, up from 5,72,984 units the year before. Interestingly, the mid-size market, currently a hot spot with new launches like the Mahindra Renault Logan and the soonto-debut Suzuki SX4 — saw a modest 4.3% growth at 2,00,615 units, up from 1,92,374 units the year before. The entry-level A segment, including the M800 and Omni, clocked 79,245 units, down 11% from 89,223 units. The fourth-gear growth in pricey sedans has prompted luxe marquees like DaimlerChrysler, BMW and Audi to get more aggressive in India. DaimlerChrysler is setting up a new plant in Chakan, BMW has just inaugurated its Chennai facility from where it is rolling out Indiaassembled 3 and 5 Series and Audi will soon start assembling at sister company Skoda’s Aurangabad facility. DaimlerChrysler already had a record showing in calendar 06 with 2121 units including 922 E Class, 883 C Class, 248 S Class and 68 completely imported models sold.

Courtesy: EconomicTimes