It was billed as the comeback car but six months into its launch, the Zest is yet to capture the consumer’s imagination, reports Vikram Chaudhary in New Delhi.
Since August, the compact sedan from the Tata Motors stable, has sold in all, a little over what Maruti Suzuki’s Swift Dzire sells in a month. If that doesn’t seem like a fair comparison, given the Dzire is a hugely popular car and the largest selling sedan in the country, the Zest fails to match up to Hyundai’s Xcent. And although the Tata cart beat Honda Amaze, in October and November, Amaze bounced back in December and January to reclaim its position. Nevetheless, the car is certainly selling better than the Nano and has contributed to the company’s improved sales in the April-January period. Analysts are giving the company some time to rev up the sales given the Zest has driven up passenger vehicle sales, in the home market, for the company to 13,047 units, up 19% from January 2014.
Kotak Institutional Equities (KIE) expected sales of passenger vehicles to rise by 5.2% in FY15 and further by 25% in FY16 after falling 37.4% in FY14 and 32% in FY13.
Abdul Majeed, leader, Automotive, PwC India, believes it is critical for Tata Motors to ensure the Zest attracts more buyers because the excitement around a new launch tapers off after about two years.
“The compact sedan is a growing segment so it is extremely critical for a company to succeed in this space. The competition is not just between Maruti, Hyundai, Honda and Tata because there are others with offerings including premium hatchbacks in a similar price range,” Majeed pointed out.
Gaurav Vangaal, automotive analyst, IHS Automotive, feels that the Zest, even though it is at the bottom of the segment, has done well. “ Being able to notch up even these volumes in the highly- competitive compact sedan segment is a credible job,” Vangaal, observed. The Zest, he says, is making consumers more confident about the Tata brand. ‘If the Zest is able to sustain even these volumes, it will help Tata keep up the momentum for its upcoming launches,” he said.
Tata Motors declined to participate in the story. Between mid-August and end January, sales of the Zest totalled 19,174 units; over the same period, Amaze sold 31,718 units and the Xcent 25,832. Although Hyundai’s premium hatchback Elite i20 doesn’t technically fall in the same segment, it does attract buyers from the compact sedan segment, and sold 53,864 units till January.