India Full Year 1996: Maruti (52.5%) and Maruti 800 (32.1%) at record highs, foreigners land

Three years after launch the Zen breaks into the Top 5, helping Maruti to a record 52.2% share.

* See the Top 14 All-brands and Top 33 All-models by clicking on the title *

The Indian new vehicle market soars 19.2% year-on-year in 1996 to reach 555.801 deliveries, the first time new car sales in India cross the half-million annual unit-mark. Suzuki’s local subsidiary, Maruti (+22%), continues to suffocate the market, improving its record share to 52.5%. Tata (+24%) and Mahindra (+20%) also outpace the market on the podium whereas Hindustan (-4%) and Force Motors (-3%) struggle in the remainder of the Top 5. Daewoo (+315%) is up 4-fold on 1995 to become the first foreign carmaker to break into the annual Indian Top 6 since BSCB started following this market in 1985, overtaking Premier (-52%) and Eicher Motor (+22%).

The Daewoo Cielo is the first foreigner to break into the Indian Top 10.

In fact, 1996 marks the year the Indian market truly opened to foreign actors, with the arrival of no less than 5 new brands: Opel, Peugeot (both in Top 10), Ford, Fiat and BMW. Model-wise, the Daewoo Cielo is up 5-fold and 9 spots to become the first foreign nameplate to break into the annual Indian Top 10 at #9 with 3.4% share. It is followed by the Opel Astra landing directly at #18, the Peugeot 309 at #22 and the Mercedes E-Class at #24, meaning there are still only four fully foreign models in the Indian Top 25 in 1996.

The Opel Astra lands directly at #18.

This onslaught of foreign models “invading” the Indian market isn’t affecting Maruti 800 sales in the least: celebrating 12 consecutive years at the helm of the local charts, it even improves by 40% to reach a new share record at 32.1%. The Mahindra Jeep (+20%) matches the market at 11.7% above the Tata 407/608/609 (+2%) meaning the podium remains unchanged on 1995. The Omnivan (+8%) and Zen (+70%) make it 3 Marutis in the Top 5 like last year, but the Esteem (-37%) is knocked down to #7. Instead, the Tata Sumo (+98%) almost doubles its sales compared to its inaugural year in 1995 to gain 3 spots and end the year at #6. Reversely, the Hindustan Ambassador (+1%) drops two ranks to #8 and the Premier Padmini (-53%) drops out of the Top 10 for the first time since its Indian launch back in 1970.

Previous year: India 1995: Market up 37%, Maruti Esteem up to #4, Tata Sumo lands

Full Year 1996 Top 14 All-brands and Top 33 All-models below.