January 2016 sales: Swift takes plunge; Celerio, Kwid win hearts

Despite the allure of the 2016 Auto Expo in the country spreading from the National Capital, the sales numbers from January narrate a pretty contrasting tale. Majority of the cars among the top ten have suffered negative y-o-y growth as Maruti Suzuki’s hatchback Swift has emerged as the biggest dud with a 29 per cent fall. However, the Indian automaker still continued to dominate the list by grabbing half a dozen of the top ten positions.

The Maruti Suzuki Alto remained on top of the pile for January 2016 with 21,462 units, in spite of witnessing a six per cent drop in sales. It was the Swift, though, that experienced the most significant numerical alteration as it lost more than 4,000 units to find itself on the third position in the list at 14,057 units.

Nonetheless, there was some good news for Maruti too in the form of the Celerio that has been one of the most noteworthy movers. It made an entry into the list with a 48 per cent rise in sales, at ninth position with 7,141 units.

As for other manufacturers, Hyundai experienced mixed fortunes in January. While the Elite i20 lost ground by 14 per cent, the Grand i10 rose by the same percentage to swap places with the former, in at fifth.

Renault has made its presence felt in the Indian market with the Kwid hatchback and the French automaker also has numbers to support the claim. The 800cc car broke into the top ten at 5,985 units as it looks to cement its position on this list.

Honda remained the only other manufacturer in this lot with the City showing a stable performance. The sedan retains its seventh position with 7,698 units in January this year at a reasonable five per cent growth.