Is the worst over for the auto industry? Unfortunately, no. Overall passenger vehicle sales were down by 23.7 per cent in September compared to the same period last year. But here are a few new cars that are raking in the moolah despite the slump.
Hyundai Venue
It has become India’s highest-selling SUV with 42,000 units sold in the last 5 months. So far, the company has received over 75,000 bookings for the compact SUV. Around 50 per cent of the bookings are for the top trims that have BlueLink connected car technology, said Hyundai. The Hyundai Venue’s price in Bhubaneswar starts at Rs 7.43 lakh ex-showroom.
Maruti S-Presso
Maruti’s recently launched hatchback (or mini-SUV as called by the company) S-Presso has received over 10,000 bookings in just 11 days. This is Maruti’s first new small car launch in this decade. It is priced between Rs 3.69 and Rs 4.94 lakh ex-showroom, and is available in both manual and automatic variants.
Kia Seltos
Hyundai’s sister company is having a ball in India. It’s first product Seltos has received an overwhelming 50,000 bookings in just 2.5 months of its launch. It had delivered 13,990 units by the end of September. Seltos is available in a variety of engines and gearboxes, in both petrol and diesel. While the waiting periods are lower than MG’s Hector, it is still 3-4 months for a few top-spec variants. Kia is expected to launch a Venue rivaling smaller SUV soon.
MG Hector
MG on the other hand, recently re-opened the bookings for its Hector SUV. The Chinese-owned British brand has now bagged 8,000 new orders. It had received over 28,000 bookings in July, after which it stopped accepting bookings. MG’s Halol plant has an installed capacity of 84,000 units per annum. The current waiting period is up to 6 months depending on the variant. The company has sold over 3,500 units of the Hector since its launch.
