Last month, the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz outsold Honda City to take the lead in the mid-size sedan segment, while Hyundai Verna came third
The mid-size sedan, once a hotbed for new launches is facing a lot of heat from the compact SUV segment and the segment has shrunk overall. Also the fact that the Indian auto industry is going through a tough time has dented the sales further in this segment.
The sedan segment hotly competes between Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, Honda City and Hyundai Verna along with the Toyota Yaris and Skoda Rapid. The margins are always marginal between the top 3 contenders.
The July 2019 sales figures have been no exception in this case. Last month, Maruti Suzuki Ciaz turned out to be the segment leader outpacing Honda City, selling 2,397 units as compared to latter’s 1,921 units. This 400 units margin was only 100 units difference in June 2019, when Honda City outpaced the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz.
The third spot was taken by Hyundai Verna that was sitting on the neck of the Honda City with 1,890 units a difference of only 31 units. In June 2019, the Hyundai Verna got 2,271 buyers, only 50 units difference as compared to Maruti Suzuki Ciaz.
Speaking for y-o-y sales, the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz was shifted to Nexa range of dealerships so historical data is not available. As for the Honda City, it posted a 48 percent sales decline, a massive slump as last year same month, Honda sold 3,709 units. The Hyundai Verna, on the other hand, also suffered a similar 44 percent sales decline as 3,351 units of Verna were sold in July 2018.
On the fourth spot has the surprising entry Skoda Rapid and not the Toyota Yaris. Skoda sold 707 units in July 2019 as compared to 800 units same month last year and in the fifth spot was the Volkswagen Vento with 374 units sold, a 27 percent drop from July 2018, when VW sold 513 units.
Data Source: AutoPunditz