Maruti Ciaz moves past Honda City sales ahead of new City’s launch

Maruti Suzuki Ciaz and Honda City are two very popular sedans in India. The former was launched to dethrone the latter, and sales numbers reveal that after three years of launch, Ciaz has finally taken over the reign of Honda City in India.

Both Honda City and Maruti Ciaz are commanding a position of pride for their respective automakers. While demand for both models is high, the Ciaz, launched in October 2014 entered a segment largely commanded by the Honda City and Hyundai Verna.

Maruti Ciaz immediately managed to carve a niche for itself in the market, thanks to aggressive pricing, luxurious interiors. After about 3 years of launch, Ciaz has reported higher sales than that of City’s over a period of ten months of this fiscal. During the period April 2016 to January 2017, 53,644 units of Ciaz were sold as against 45,395 units of the Honda City.

Speaking about the sales release shared by Maruti Suzuki India – In January 2017, sales of Maruti Suzuki Ciaz has surpassed that of Honda City. Sales of Maruti Suzuki Ciaz for January 2017 stood at 6,530 units as against 6,355 units of Honda City sold in the same month. Ciaz sales registered a 20% increase in sales over 5,431 units sold in January 2016 while Honda City sales were at 8,037 units in January 2016.

Skoda Rapid, another sedan making waves across the sedan segment, reported sales of 959 units in January 2017, a decline of 8.1% as compared to sales of 1,044 units in January 2016 while sales of Volkswagen Vento also dipped substantially by 61% from 1,393 units sold in January 2016 to just 543 units sold in the past month.
Cumulative sales of Maruti Suzuki Ciaz during April 2016 to January 2017 has also stood ahead of that of Honda City with 53,644 units sold during that period as against 45,395 units of Honda City sold. 13,246 units of Hyundai Verna were sold during April 2016 to January 2017 while sales of Volkswagen Vento and Skoda Rapid also experienced lower sales at 8,347 units and 7,402 units respectively.

Maruti always wanted to capture the segment which had the Honda City as No 1. This was a lucrative segment as it not only offered customers a sense of premiumness, but also that of pride in the society. Their earlier attempt, SX4 sedan, failed miserably. But they have leart from their mistakes, and are at the no 1 position in the segment now.

Honda City is in its fourth generation, launched in January 2014. To date, sales have exceeded the 2.2 lakh unit mark and the City is regaled as a practical choice for buyers seeking a mid size sedan.

Maruti Ciaz overtook the Honda City in terms of sales primarily due to a price difference of nearly INR 2 lakhs, more variant options and significantly lower maintenance costs. But with Honda all set to launch the new City facelift on 14th February, should Maruti be worried?

This article has first appeared in Rushlane.com