M&M’s decline in market share is because it did not have a compact SUV in its stable and has only this month launched one TUV300. (In picture: Mahindra TUV300)
The recent launches of Hyundai’s compact SUV Creta and Maruti’s crossover S-Cross has eaten into the market share of traditional utility vehicle makers like Mahindra and Mahindra and Renault.
Mahindra, which still enjoys an unparalleled dominance in the segment, has witnessed a steep fall in its market share in the UV segment from 41.2% in April to 29.8% in August, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) data. During the same period, Hyundai’s share in the segment on the back of sales of Creta jumped to 16.86% from a negligible 0.29%. Similarly, Maruti Suzuki’s recent launch of S-Cross which in the last one and a half month since launch has sold more than 6,000 units saw its share in the segment rise to 17.57% from 10.23% in April. Sales of Ertiga has also contributed largely to this increase in market share.
M&M’s decline in market share is because it did not have a compact SUV in its stable and has only this month launched one TUV300. The company largely has SUVs in its portfolio which in recent times are not preferred by the consumers as much as compact SUVs which are smaller in size and more suitable for city driving. Other manufacturers like Toyota Kirloskar, Ford India, Renault and Nissan also saw a decline in their market share largely because there has not been much of product upgrades by them.
For instance, Renault’s Duster, which was launched in July 2012, initially recorded robust sales of over 5,000 units a month and later on settled at around 3,500 units. However, the volumes have seen a gradual decline in recent months and August sales came down to 1,100 units.
For the fiscal 2014-15, M&M’s utility vehicles share stood at 37.4% against distant second Totota Kirloskar’s 14.5% and Maruti Suzuki’s 12.3%.
Hyundai and Maruti’s sales of SUVs have surpassed that of Toyota’s in August. Hyundai’s Creta has sold close to 15,000 units since its launch in July while Maruti’s S-Cross clocked 4,500 units in its first month of launch itself.
“The total SUV industry in India right now is about 45,000 to 50,000 a month roughly. If this gives us a volume of additional 4,000 to 5,000 per month then that is 8-10% of market share gained,” Pawan Goenka, executive director at M&M and Group president (Auto and Farm Sector), said at the launch of the TUV300. Analysts, however believe, it won’t be an easy task for M&M to regain the lost market share as already a lot of space has been occupied in the segment. “Around 4,000-5,000 units per month seems quite a stretch. Considering that so many players have entered the segment,” Anil Sharma, principal analyst with consulting firm IHS Automotive said.
