It is by far the country’s largest automaker by revenues. Its dominance in the lucrative commercial vehicle segment is undiminished, despite a flurry of new entrants in the past few years. Is the car segment the next frontier for Tata Motors to conquer?
The company has never been forthcoming on the issue, but the market is buzzing with speculation about an impending battle between Maruti Suzuki — the incumbent — and Tata Motors for the top slot in the fast-growing car market. The speculation has been fuelled by a better-than-expected performance by its car division in June.
Last month, Tata Motors’ passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market jumped 53% year-on-year to nearly 30,000. This makes it India’s second largest carmaker, ahead of Hyundai Motors India. For Tata Motors, growth was led by the success of its recently launched sedan, Indigo Manza, and a big jump in the delivery of Nano. A strong demand for Manza more than doubled the sales of Indigo to 7,500 units last month, becoming a clear leader in the entry sedan segment.
Nano, meanwhile continues to gain traction after inauguration of its green-field manufacturing facility at Sanand, Gujarat. Last month, Nano sales doubled over the previous month and at this rate, the entry-level hatchback could soon emerge as the largest selling car in the Tata stable.
Tata Motors has done well to reclaim the number two spot in the domestic car market but a shot at the top slot looks well-nigh impossible at the current level. Maruti Suzuki is a strong incumbent with the widest model line-up in the industry.
Most importantly, Maruti has a vice-like grip over the bread and butter compact car segment, with a nearly two-thirds market share and a product portfolio to suit any budget. In contrast, Tata Motors continues to lag in the segment with a slow offtake of its Indica range. In the first three months of FY11, sales of Indica range were up just 8%, much below the industry growth rate.
The company’s ambitions have also been hurt by its failure to notch-up higher volumes in the sports utility vehicles(SUV) segment, with a weak response to its newly-launched Sumo Grande. The company’s SUV sales grew a modest 9% in the month of June 2010 and 20% during the first three months of the current fiscal.
Tata Motors can expect a better show in the segment in future, given the impending launch of its new SUV platform.
The company has never been forthcoming on the issue, but the market is buzzing with speculation about an impending battle between Maruti Suzuki — the incumbent — and Tata Motors for the top slot in the fast-growing car market. The speculation has been fuelled by a better-than-expected performance by its car division in June.
Last month, Tata Motors’ passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market jumped 53% year-on-year to nearly 30,000. This makes it India’s second largest carmaker, ahead of Hyundai Motors India. For Tata Motors, growth was led by the success of its recently launched sedan, Indigo Manza, and a big jump in the delivery of Nano. A strong demand for Manza more than doubled the sales of Indigo to 7,500 units last month, becoming a clear leader in the entry sedan segment.
Nano, meanwhile continues to gain traction after inauguration of its green-field manufacturing facility at Sanand, Gujarat. Last month, Nano sales doubled over the previous month and at this rate, the entry-level hatchback could soon emerge as the largest selling car in the Tata stable.
Tata Motors has done well to reclaim the number two spot in the domestic car market but a shot at the top slot looks well-nigh impossible at the current level. Maruti Suzuki is a strong incumbent with the widest model line-up in the industry.
Most importantly, Maruti has a vice-like grip over the bread and butter compact car segment, with a nearly two-thirds market share and a product portfolio to suit any budget. In contrast, Tata Motors continues to lag in the segment with a slow offtake of its Indica range. In the first three months of FY11, sales of Indica range were up just 8%, much below the industry growth rate.
The company’s ambitions have also been hurt by its failure to notch-up higher volumes in the sports utility vehicles(SUV) segment, with a weak response to its newly-launched Sumo Grande. The company’s SUV sales grew a modest 9% in the month of June 2010 and 20% during the first three months of the current fiscal.
Tata Motors can expect a better show in the segment in future, given the impending launch of its new SUV platform.
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