Swift is India’s most popular car; Innova, City close behind

The Maruti Suzuki Swift has emerged as the most popular car, on online platforms, for the second consecutive year, according to a study released by online automobile transactional marketplace Droom.

The model was followed closely by Toyota Innova and Honda City. Maruti Suzuki also scored over its competitors in terms of the overall body make.

Swift is one of the best selling models from the Maruti Suzuki stable, and for the month of January 2017 it was the fourth highest selling car in India at 14,545 units. For the period between April 2016-January 2017, the car sold 1,39,044 units with a market share of 25 per cent in the Indian passenger car market.

The carmaker is going to launch the new Swift in India in the next couple of months. The all new Swift is likely going to be based on the new model recently launched in Japan.

The Droom Survey also showed that petrol and CNG cars saw a dip in sales from 59 per cent to 52 per cent and 7 per cent to 4 per cent respectively from 2015 to 2016. Diesel vehicles reported an increase in sales from 34 per cent to 44 per cent.

Hatchbacks also reported a drop in sales from 43 per cent to 40 per cent, while sedans and SUVs almost remained level to the previous year's numbers. MUVs reported a slight increase from 6 per cent to 9 per cent. The average time span of resold used automobiles was five years.

Talking about the luxury segment, the survey mentioned that BMW and Audi shared the distinction of being the most in-demand cars. Audi A4 again emerged as the most loved car by Delhi's rich and famous.

In the bikes segment, Bajaj Pulsar emerged as the most popular vehicle, followed by Hero Passion Pro and Bajaj Discover, while Honda Active staked its claim at the top of the scooter segment, beating the likes of Suzuki Access and Honda Aviator.

The fast lanes of the supercar and superbike section also attracted massive positive response. While Harley Davidson and KTM featured amongst the most popular superbikes with KTM Duke bagging the top spot, BMW and Audi shared the distinction of being the most in-demand supercars. Audi A4 again emerged as the most loved car for Delhi's rich and famous.

Sandeep Aggarwal, Founder and chief executive of Droom, said, ''The trends as seen in Droom's analysis paints a distinct picture of the entire automobile marketplace. Droom is still a largely urban customer-oriented market, with the highest response coming in from Delhi-NCR, Ludhiana, Bangalore and Jaipur. However, the response from Tier-II and III cities has been growing constantly, which gives us a lot of encouragement."

According to Droom's survey report, 59 per cent of queries and online sales closed by Droom comprised two-wheelers (41 per cent bikes, 26 per cent scooters). Cars accounted for 38 per cent of total sales, whereas the rest was made up by superbikes and supercars.

Bikes on the platform were bought at an average price of Rs43, 360, while cars were sold at an average price of Rs5, 76, 969.

"While Indian brands and tie-ups such as Maruti Suzuki and Hero emerged as the most trusted brands, foreign manufacturers like Hyundai and Honda are fast catching up. We believe the comprehensiveness, relevancy, and structure of this review will further enhance Droom's popularity and motivate users to choose it as the ideal platform to sell or buy used and new automobiles," added Aggarwal.