Back in 2013-14, Hyundai’s Verna was the segment leader by a fairly large margin. During those times, City (petrol-only) and Maruti Suzuki SX4 were reduced to paltry figures. However, Honda pulled up a fast one with the new-gen City with diesel, and Maruti Suzuki followed with their new feather-light Ciaz.
Both the cars went onto uproot Verna from the top slot and Hyundai had to act. Act, they did, with the new 2015 Verna 4S which was launched on February 18 this year. A reasonable time has passed and we feel it is an appropriate time to understand how much trouble is the new Verna causing to City and Ciaz, if at all!
Analyzing the figures, we understand that even with the new Verna, Hyundai has failed to concern anyone at Honda’s or Maruti’s headquarters! If we consider the first quarter sales, Verna is a distant third in the C2 sedan segment and Ciaz triumphs over with over double its sales and City has sold almost four times more. (sales figures sheet below)
As per SIAM sourced sales data, Hyundai sold 1,620 units of the car in June 2015. That’s exactly the same number of cars they sold back in January 2015 with the pre-facelift model! March 2015, which was the first full month of sales for the new Fluidic 4S Verna, saw 3,400 units going out. Ever since then the numbers have been on the downward slide with April and May registering 2,802 and 2,127 units respectively.
Verna Sales Comparison with Last Year
In terms of complete quarter sales, at 6549 units in Q1 FY 16, Verna is about 3400 units short when compared with the Quarter one of last financial year. We have shared a comparative month-on-month chart above for your immediate referral.
City vs Ciaz vs Verna: Quarter 1 FY 16 Sales Comparison
What City and Ciaz have done is expand the segment and at the way both of them are going at present there doesn’t seem to be any looking back. We do NOT see Verna troubling them unless there is some unprecedented turn of events somewhere…
Also Read: i20 Active Doing 2500 Units Per Month; EcoSport-Rival ‘Under Works’
So, has Hyundai lost the plot with Verna? Will it continue to be a distant third?
