Despite Maruti Suzuki Baleno and Hyundai Elite i20 sitting at the top of the sales charts they did post negative YoY sales growth
The premium hatchback segment has been hotly contested in recent years as Maruti Suzuki Baleno and Hyundai Elite i20 often battle it out for top honours. The unfavourable market circumstances in the auto industry over the last several months has affected the segment though as models have suffered big time up and down the table.
For instance, the Maruti Suzuki Baleno despite leading the segment had to deal with a massive sales decline of 23 per cent. The largest carmaker in the country sold 13,689 units of the Baleno as against 17,850 during the same month last year. Hyundai Elite i20 also endured 18 per cent sales drop in June 2019.
The Korean hatchback was responsible for Hyundai adding up 9,271 units to its tally last month but it was nearly 2,000 units down on the corresponding month in 2018. The rebadged version of Baleno, Toyota Glanza, looks set to occupy the third position in the monthly sales charts as it finished ahead of Volkswagen Polo and Honda Jazz again.
| Model | June 2019 Sales | June 2018 Sales |
| Maruti Suzuki Baleno | 13,689 | 17,850 |
| Hyundai Elite i20 | 9,271 | 11,262 |
| Toyota Glanza | 1,919 | – |
| Volkswagen Polo | 1,450 | 1,429 |
| Honda Jazz | 680 | 1,175 |
The Glanza registered a total of 1,919 units in June 2019 while Volkswagen Polo garnered 1,450 units with a marginal sales increase of 1 per cent. The Jazz has continuously seen drop in sales lately and June 2019 was no different as 680 units were retailed against 1,175 units during the same month in 2018 with 42 per cent volume decrease.
The Jazz is receiving a brand new generation later this year in international markets. Whether it will be introduced in India or not is up for anybody’s discussion. However, it must be noted that Honda definitely needs another volume puller to accompany the Amaze and it may as well be the next-gen Jazz.
The segment will get a brand new rival in the form of Tata Altroz as it is scheduled to launch in soon. Based on the ALFA (Agile Light Flexible Advanced) architecture, the Altroz is only the second Tata model to bear Impact Design 2.0 philosophy following the Harrier.