Kia and Hyundai have just managed to beat Maruti Suzuki in terms of domestic sales volumes of May’21. Kia and Hyundai and Kia sold a total of 36,051 units in May whereas last year they sold 8,544 units. In terms of monthly sales, Hyundai and Kia sold 65,113 units in April of 2021. Because of this, the market share of Hyundai and Kia increased by 12 percent to 34.94 percent whereas Maruti’s share decreased by 16 percent to 31.89 percent.
Hyundai is a sister company to Kia. Hyundai purchased a majority of shares in 1997 when Kia filed for bankruptcy. Due to this, Kia was able to make it back afloat. Hyundai is still the largest shareholder for Kia. Hyundai entered the Indian market in 1996 and was one of the first competitors to Maruti Suzuki. On the other hand, Kia entered the Indian market very recently.
However, still, it is one of the most successful manufacturers in India. All of their vehicles are selling well in their segments. There are certain reasons because which Kia and Hyundai were able to overtake an automobile giant like Maruti Suzuki:-
COVID-19 lockdown
One of the biggest reasons that Kia and Hyundai were able to capture such a market share is the lockdown that happed because of coronavirus. People are not buying new vehicles and because Maruti Suzuki had the biggest share, they also suffered the biggest loss in terms of sales numbers. Also, automobile manufacturers were helping in providing oxygen because our country was facing a shortage of oxygen cylinders. This also hampered the production capacity.
Maruti Suzuki plant shutdown
Maruti Suzuki’s plant was shut down for 16 days because of annual maintenance. First, the manufacturing plant in Haryana and Gujrat stopped its production on May 1st for 9 days to produce oxygen. Then the plant shutdown was extended till May 16th. This hampered the production of the manufacturer and the sales too.
Wholesale sales
These are the wholesale dispatch numbers of both manufacturers. In terms of retail sales, Maruti Suzuki is still expected to beat the numbers of Hyundai and Kia.
Maruti Suzuki currently has 16 cars in their line-up. Four cars are sold through the Nexa dealership which is a premium offering from Maruti Suzuki while the rest of the 12 cars are sold through the Maruti Suzuki Arena dealerships. The most affordable vehicle that Maruti has to offer is the Alto 800 which starts at Rs. 3.02 lakhs ex-showroom whereas the flagship of Maruti Suzuki is the S-Cross that starts at Rs. 8.39 lakhs ex-showroom. The manufacturer is also working on numerous new products for the Indian market.
Hyundai on the other hand has 11 cars in their line-up. The most affordable vehicle that Hyundai has in their portfolio is the Santro that starts at Rs. 4.77 lakhs ex-showroom. The flagship of Hyundai is the Tucson which is a premium SUV that starts at Rs. 22.72 lakhs ex-showroom and goes all the way up to Rs. 27.53 lakhs ex-showroom. They also have an electric vehicle in their line-up called Kona Electric which costs Rs. 23.77 lakhs ex-showroom. Hyundai is also working on a number of new products that will soon be launching in our country.