The aspirations of the youth are changing—they want functions such as Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, sunroof, touchscreen, and so on, and premium hatchbacks supply these.
In calendar year (CY) 2015, the compact low hatchback sub-segment contributed to 13.4% general passenger automobile sales in India, compact mid 12.5%, compact higher 14.8% and compact premium 8.2%. By CY2020, the compact premium hatchback sub-segment had enhanced its sales share from 8.2% to 13%, though that of compact low dropped to 10.9%, compact mid to 11.6% and compact higher to 11.6%. Compact low are vehicles such as the Alto compact mid are vehicles such as the Santro compact higher are Swift and i10 and so on and compact premium are Baleno, i20, Altroz, Polo, Jazz, and so on. An rising quantity of Indians are now getting compact premium hatchbacks, such as Maruti Suzuki Baleno and Hyundai i20, as their very first car or truck, say analysts.
Sanjeev Garg, practice leader, automotive, Praxis Global Alliance, says the trend began displaying clearly from 2018 onwards, and attributes 4 motives for this. “One, there are a lot of new cars in this segment, including Tata Altroz and Toyota Glanza. The Baleno is still doing 50% sales in this sub-segment, and the i20 has picked up in a big way. Two, the aspirations of the youth are changing—they want features such as Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, sunroof, touchscreen, etc, and premium hatchbacks offer these. Three, while in rural area and smaller cities people still buy entry-level hatchbacks as their first car, in tier-1 cities and metros they have shifted towards premium hatchbacks. Four, there is easy access to finance and low EMI—at an interest rate of 8-9%, the EMI difference between a premium hatchback and entry-level could be merely `3,000.”
One trend that has picked up is sunroof. Tarun Garg, director, sales and advertising and marketing, Hyundai Motor India, told FE that about 30% bookings of the new i20 are of the variant with the sunroof. Som Kapoor, companion, automotive sector, EY India, says the sunroof is a differentiating element. Even although in a climate such as India individuals may perhaps not use it most of the time, they want a sunroof. “If you look at an advertising of any car that has a sunroof as an option, the ad will always display the sunroof. Kids in particular want it, and they are decision-drivers.”
He adds that a lot of premium hatchbacks supply a sunroof, as also functions such as connectivity, which may perhaps not be there in entry-level hatchbacks. “Indian consumers are maturing; they want feature-rich cars, those that offer a lot of features on the dashboard,” he says. Recently, Deloitte had released the ‘2021 Global Automotive Consumer Study’, which, amongst other points, noted that 65% of buyers in India intend to obtain a significantly less highly-priced automobile than earlier planned since of the Covid-19 pandemic. But the study also added that “there is a positive consumer perception of connected vehicles that appears to be edging up, and safety features are the top priority for 89% Indian consumers”. Premium hatchbacks are perceived to be safer than entry-level hatchbacks and also supply ‘connected car’ functions.
Rajeev Singh, companion & automotive leader, Deloitte India, says that connectivity and security are functions that have been traditionally not on the top rated of the list for Indian purchasers, but now they are. Going forward, Garg from Praxis says that the sales share of premium hatchbacks will continue to improve. “While entry-level hatchbacks are now primarily bought by those who are upgrading from two-wheelers and in smaller towns, premium hatchbacks are becoming the first car of choice for those in bigger cities — the ‘dual income, no kids’ generation.”
Maruti Suzuki India on Saturday stated its hatchback Swift has emerged as the very best promoting car or truck model in India in 2020 with 1,60,700 units.
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