India November 2018: Honda (+10%), Mahindra (+4%) stay afloat in market down 2.8%

The Mahindra Alturas G4, aka Ssangyong Rexton, has landed in India.

New car sales in India are back into negative for the 4th time in the past 5 months in November at 266.540 wholesales (-2.8%), but the year-to-date volume remains at record levels, up 5.7% to 3.141.188, the highest ever result after 11 months in India. The all-time annual record of 2017 (3.226.162) is now assured to be broken. Suzuki’s local subsidiary, Maruti (-0.3%) manages to stay stable year-on-year, resulting in its 2nd highest ever market share at 54%, below only the 55% hit last April. In fact, the entire Top 5 brands outpace the market, with Honda (+10%) the most dynamic followed by Mahindra (+4%) and both Hyundai (-1%) and Tata (-1%) just edging into negative territory. It’s below that the losses are spectacular: Jeep (-59%), Datsun (-27%), Volkswagen (-27%), Renault (-21%), Ford (-18%), Toyota (-16%) and Skoda (-13%) all dive into oblivion.

Model-wise, the Maruti Swift (+66%) continues to surf on the success of its new generation, up 3 spots on October to return to pole position for the 2nd time in the past 3 months. The Maruti Dzire (-6%), its sedan variant, is up one rank to #2 and now only one month away from its very first annual win. The Maruti Baleno (+5%) rounds up the podium which means the Maruti Alto (-23%) is knocked down to #4, the first time it doesn’t appear on the Indian podium since 2003.

The Vitara Brezza (-1%) and Wagon R (-19%) enable Maruti to monopolise the Top 6 like it does year-to-date but the Wagon R’s steep drop should worry the manufacturer and is the direct effect of the relaunch of India’s original “tall boy” nameplate, the Santro, breaking into the Top 10 for its second month in market with over 9.000 wholesales. Hyundai indeed completes the Top 10 with the Elite i20 (+3%), Creta (+13%) and Grand i10 (-30%). This month we welcome the Mahindra Alturas G4, none other than a rebadged Ssangyong Rexton G4, at #60 with 216 sales.

Previous month: India October 2018: Hyundai Santro returns with a splash directly at #11

One year ago: India November 2017: Maruti monopolises Top 6, breaks share record at 52.6%

Full November 2018 Top 20 All-brands and Top 90 models below.