Despite Maruti Suzuki?s Manesar lockout lengthening the wait list for its top-selling Swift, its market share is unlikely to take a knock as rivals are not in a position to cash in on Maruti?s misery.
Hyundai India plans annual production every March and places orders for i20 engines to be imported from South Korea. The parent firm receives engine orders every year in March from 153 countries where it has plants and this year?s order numbers have not been revised. ?So, even if demand shifts from Swift to i20, we won?t be able to cope,? a Hyundai official said. This means even Swift wait listers switching to i20 must wait for i20. The i20 was refurbished as recently as April.
Same is the case with the Volkswagen Polo which competes in the same segment, selling 3,000 units every month. Polo engines too are imported, and Volkswagen has not revised import orders yet.
Maruti sells 18,000 Swifts every month while Hyundai sells 8,000 i20s. Entry level cars like Alto, WagonR and Zen Estilo are much behind. Swift, which also has a diesel version, was refurbished last year. Labour trouble at Manesar had led to longer wait lists, which has worsened now.
According to seating capacity, length and engine capacity, Ford Figo, Skoda Fabia, Fiat Punto, Honda Jazz, Tata Indica, Toyota Etios Liva and Nissan Micra are premium hatchbacks, but are not seen as direct competitors to Swift. Deepesh Rathore of IHS Automotive India says this definition is too broad and Swift?s real rivals are i20 and Polo.
?All others will only be able to capture around 40% of Swift?s demand. Loyal Swift buyers will defer their purchase and wait for production to normalise,? Rathore said.
Maruti officials are scheduled to meet on Monday to explore the resumption of production. It is expected that the police inquiry report would be in by then and the company can take a decision on whom to sack and whom to retain. Maruti sources said even if production resumes by month-end, it would take a couple of months to achieve full capacity. Apart from Swift, the Manesar also produces Dzire and A-Star.