Renault launched their Lodgy MPV in India in April and within its first month of sales, the big Multi-Purpose Vehicle has outsold its chief rival Honda Mobilio with sales of 2032 units. In comparison, Mobilio registered its worst ever performance with total car sales for the month standing at 689 units, only.
Generally Mobilio is a 2000-3000 monthly unit seller but due to production capacity constraints (and higher demand of its cars), Honda juggles production between different variants and this may NOT be the month for Mobilio and hence may NOT reflect if there is an actual fall in its sales. Only consecutive sales fall for continuous months, if any, will confirm if people are preferring rivals over this Jap!
For Renault also, a place over Mobilio within the first month may sound interestingly good, but 2000 odd units to start with may not really be a very good beginning. New cars generally start at high figures initially with all the big hype and promotional campaigns and sales settle down to lower levels when the hoopla quietens down.
On the other hand, Maruti’s Ertiga registered 4181 unit sales which are slightly lower by its standards and on the other END, Innova scorches through with total April 2015 sales of massive 5285 units confirming that even if one day Toyota starts selling this 100PS car at over 20 Lakhs people will still flock their showrooms!
But the good thing is that Renault has stirred up competition in this segment and Chevrolet will follow it up with their Spin MPV next year to try and snatch a pie from the top sellers. How much of it will go to whom and will Innova and Ertiga continue to enjoy their supremacy – coming few months will reveal…
