Sales of Maruti Suzuki's 4 top-selling cars decline in January

Maruti Suzuki, India's largest carmaker by volume, remained triumphant in the passenger car sales for January 2016, with its four vehicles remaining at the top of best selling cars list. However, the manufacturer has something to worry about as all the four top selling cars posted negative growth in comparison to the corresponding month last year.

According to the details provided by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Maruti Suzuki Alto remained at the top as the best selling passenger car with 21,462 units sold in January. However, its sales slipped by six percent in comparison to the 22,889 units in January 2015. The Swift hatchback, at the second spot, with 14,057 units sale in January witnessed a heavy decline of about 29 percent compared to the 19,669 units sold in January 2015.

This also encourages the belief that the newly launched Baleno hatchback of Maruti Suzuki is eating into the sales of the Swift. The compact sedan sibling of the Swift, the Swift Dzire, found 14,042 takers, with a drop of 23 percent compared to 18,155 units sold in January 2015. The fourth car in the top ten list was the WagonR. Maruti Suzuki sold 12,744 units of the WagonR with a nominal decline of one percent year-over-year.

Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL), Maruti Suzuki's main rival in India, registered positive growth for its Grandi10 and Elite i20 hatchbacks in January. The Korean company sold 9,934 units of Grand i10 (up by 14 percent) and 9,604 units of Elite i20 (up by one percent), securing fifth and sixth places on the list.

Honda Cars India sold 8,037 units of City sedan with five percent growth and secured seventh place, while Maruti Suzuki Baleno bagged eighth place, with 7,698 units sold. The relief for Maruti Suzuki came in the form of Celerio that found 7,141 takers, showing a growth of 48 percent. The last slot on the list was locked by Hyundai Creta SUV, with 6,589 units sold in January.