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India May 2013: Maruti DZire leads the ranking for the first time!

Maruti DZire India May 2013. Picture courtesy of Team BHPThe Maruti DZire is only the 5th model to ever rank #1 in India since 1950…

* See the Top 60 best-selling models and Top 14 brands by clicking on the title! *

May is the 6th month in a row of year-on-year decline for the Indian car market at -8% to 193,338 registrations, which brings the year-to-date total to 1,081,177 units, down 11% on 2012. Historical event this month in the models ranking: the Maruti DZire (aka Swift sedan) takes the lead for the very first time with sales up 32% year-on-year to 17,265 and 8.9% market share. Reversely the Maruti Alto is down 37% or 10,000 units compared to May 2012 at 16,411 and 8.5% share… To comprehend how rare such an event is, let’s point out that the Maruti Alto had been #1 in India each and every month since July 2004 except April 2012 when the Maruti Swift took the lead. That’s 105 of the last 106 months…

Hindustan AmbassadorThe Hindustan Ambassador was the first one…

In fact, the Maruti DZire may well only be the 5th vehicle to ever rank #1 in India in over 60 years! Before the Alto, the Maruti 800 led the Indian market from 1985 to 2004 and the Hindustan Ambassador did so from around 1950 until 1984Note 1950-2004 data is not official, if you have more detail please get in touch. The new generation DZire has certainly made a huge impact with Indian consumers with the dynamic between the DZire sedan and the Swift hatchback (down 18% yoy this month) reversing itself to the profit of the sedan. Maruti is also pushing this, prioritising the more expensive DZire in their production lines.

Honda Amaze India May 2013Honda Amaze

There’s another outstanding performer in this month’s ranking: the Honda Amaze, up 5 spots on April to break into the Indian Top 10 for the very first time at #8 with a record 6,036 sales and 3.1% share. The Amaze single-handedly brings Honda to its strongest month ever in the country at 11,340 sales, passing Tata to rank 4th most popular manufacturer in India this month below Maruti, Hyundai and Mahindra… Notice also the Mahindra Scorpio breaking its ranking, volume and market share records at #11 with 5,165 sales and 2.7% and the Renault Duster down 2 to #12 but maintaining itself at a best-ever 2.7% market share. Finally, the Chevrolet Enjoy (aka Wuling Hongguang) is up 18 spots to #24 at 2,173 units for its first full month in market.

Check also: India April 2012: Maruti Swift 4th model since 1950 to rank #1!

Previous post: India: What changed in the last two years

Previous month: India April 2013: Maruti DZire threatens Alto for pole position!

One year ago: India May 2012: Maruti Swift and DZire break market share records

Full May 2013 Top 60 models and Top 14 brands Ranking Tables below.

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