Largely on account of new launches in the compact segment, the Indian automobile sector witnessed a positive growth of 7.8%. But the industry continued to have its share of models that failed to catch customers’ attention.
The list of ten least selling cars saw four new entrants: Fiat Linea, Fiat Avventura, Chevrolet Sail UVa, and Hyundai Elantra.
Renault’s Fluence was the least sold car in FY2016 with just 113 units sold, according to data released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).
According to industry sources, the car did not sell a single unit in March. The company now sells five models in India out of which three are in the list of the least sold models. Scala and Pulse also featured in the list; however both moved up from their previous positions. While Scala was the third, Pulse became the eighth least sold car.
Mahindra and Mahindra’s Vibe was the second least sold model in the year. It sold 609 units as against 1,361 units during FY15, registering de-growth of 55 percent.
Chevrolet Cruze sold only 935 units in the last fiscal registering a degrowth of 33% to appear as the fourth least sold car in the country. Sail UVa sold 1,507 units and recorded a massive 64 percent drop in sales. According to Siam, during February 2016, UVa did not produce nor sell a single unit. In the list, it is positioned at the sixth slot.
Fiat launched Linea Classic in September 2013 and New Linea in March 2014. However, even the combined sales of both the cars failed to garner a decent number in the recently concluded fiscal. It sold 1,447 units and registered de-growth of 37 percent. It was the fifth least sold car in India.
Fiat's Avventura also featured in the list at ninth position despite a sales growth of 22 percent; the only car to register positive sales from the Italian manufacturer. Launched in October 2014, Avventura sold 1,906 units in financial year 2015-2016.
The overall sales of Fiat India fell by 20.07 percent in the domestic market in fiscal 2016.
While Hyundai's Elite i20 and Grand i10 continue to be the best selling cars in the country, the South Korean manufacturer's Elantra became the seventh least selling car in India. Last fiscal it sold 1,708 units, registering a decrease of 42 percent in its sales. During financial year 2016, Hyundai Motor India recorded double digit growth of 15.13 percent and sold 4.84 lakh units in the domestic market.
German carmaker Volkswagen India's Jetta, positioned at tenth spot, sold 225 units less this time. Its sales decreased 10 percent.
Source : BS Motoring
