India February 2017: Hyundai Grand i10 up, Honda WR-V lands

The facelifted Hyundai Grand i10 climbs up to #4 overall in February. Picture carandbike.com

* See the Top 22 All-brands and Top 90 models by clicking on the title *

New car sales in India are up by a robust 9% year-on-year in February to 254.357 units, lifting the year-to-date tally up 11.7% to 519.073. Leader Maruti Suzuki is back below 50% market share at 47.4% but still outpaces the market with a 12% gain to 120.599 units. Hyundai follows with a shy 4% improvement to 16.6% share, ahead of Mahindra struggling at -15%, Honda, Tata and Toyota all up 12% and Renault up 27%. Ford (+52%), Volkswagen (+58%) and Datsun (+73%) impress all within the Top 10 but beyond, Chevrolet (-19%), BMW (-25%), Mercedes (-25%), Audi (-27%), Nissan (-32%) and Fiat (-48%) are in bad shape.

The Maruti Alto continues to suffer from the competition with the Renault Kwid,

Model-wise, the Maruti Alto stays on top (19.524 sales) but continues to be hampered by its direct rival the Renault Kwid (9.648) with sales down 8%. In fact, all Marutis in the Top 5 lose ground year-on-year with the DZire and Wagon R both down 5% and the Swift down 20% to #5, cannibalised by the Baleno up 11% to 7.658 units at #12. The facelifted Hyundai Grand i10 surges 45% year-on-year to 12.862 sales to nudge up one spot to #4, outselling the Maruti Swift for the first time since last June when it ranked third overall. The Maruti Vitara Brezza crosses the 10.000 monthly sales milestone for the 2nd time after last October at 10.046, distancing the Hyundai Creta (+10%) and Mahindra Bolero (-13%).

The Honda WR-V has landed in India.

Great performers inside the Top 25 include the Maruti Eeco (+20%), Toyota Innova Crysta (+22%), Honda City (+29%), Maruti Celerio (+62%) and Ford Ecosport (+73%). Among recent launches, the Tata Tiago retracts down 3 spots to #20 with 5.365 sales, the Maruti Ignis is stuck at #21 and sees its sales drop 3.5% from its inaugural month in January, the Datsun RediGo is up 7 spots to #29 and 2.404 sales, its best ranking since November and highest monthly score since last October and the Tata Hexa already freefalls 32% to #40 whereas it’s only been in market two months. Finally, we welcome the Honda WR-V into the Indian sales charts directly at #60 but it should climb up the ladder pretty quickly over the coming months.

Previous month: India January 2017: All-new Ignis helps Maruti across 50% share

One year ago: India February 2016: Renault Kwid hits #8 overall, Tata Tiago lands

Full February 2017 Top 22 All-brands and Top 90 models below.