India August 2012: Maruti labour unrest sends models ranking wild Mahindra Bolero #3, Hyundai i20 #4, Renault Duster up to #21

The Hyundai i20 is up to a record #4 in August while the Suzuki Swift is down to #41

* See the Top 50 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

Serious labour unrest at the Manesar Maruti plant means the Indian new car market is turned completely upside down this month. At 171,668 registrations, new car sales are down 5% year-on-year and at their lowest in over 20 months. The 2012 year-to-date total stands at 1,778,271 units after 8 months, still up a respectable 10% on 2011. The way Maruti has handled the problems at its Manesar plant is by de-prioritising production of best-sellers Alto, Swift and Dzire to the benefit of the (potentially more profitable?) Wagon R, Ertiga, Eeco, Omni and Ritz, therefore impacting the market as a whole as competitors in the small car segment get a boost.

As a result, the Alto, although still #1, is down to just 10,488 sales and 6.1% share, potentially its lowest monthly volume in 7 years, only 410 units above the Maruti Wagon R at 10,078 sales and back up to #2 for the first time since August 2011. The Maruti DZire is down to #24 and the Swift down to #41…

Mahindra Bolero

Below, the upheaval continues: the Mahindra Bolero climbs onto the Indian podium for the very first time at #3 with 8,717 units and a record 5.1%, while the Hyundai i20 is up 3 spots on July to #4, also its highest ranking ever in the country, with 7,712 sales and a record 4.5% share.

Maruti Ertiga

The Maruti Ertiga is also up to a best-ever 6th place with 6,643 units and a record 3.9%, the Tata Nano is up 6 ranks to #7, the Toyota Innova is up 2 to #8 and 3.8%, beating its market share record for the 5th consecutive month, the Ford Figo is up 6 to #10, its highest ranking in India since March 2011, the Maruti Eeco is up 28 to #12 and the Mahindra XUV500 is up one spot to reach a best-ever 18th place with 3,979 sales and a record 2.3%.

Renault Duster

Renault has a fantastic month, passing both Nissan and Skoda to 4,036 sales vs. 482 last May. The Renault Duster is up a brilliant 15 spots to sit in 21st place for its second month of sales in the country at 3,184 units and 1.9%. The Renault Pulse is up to a best-ever #43 while the Scala makes its very first appearance with 120 sales.

Mahindra Verito

Other great performers this month include the Mahindra Verito (aka Dacia Logan) hitting its highest monthly volume ever and first time above 2,000 units at 2,102 thanks to its facelift, and the Hyundai Elantra gearing up to #42 with 608 units for its first full month of sales in India.

Previous month: India July 2012: Maruti Ertiga and Mahindra XUV500 break records, Renault Duster off to great start

One year ago: India August 2011: Is it now really game over for the Tata Nano

Full August 2012 Top 50 Ranking Table below.