India's highest-selling cars have taken a considerable hit in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 lockdown that came into play later in the month. Here's a look at just how much of a hit these cars took on the sales front in the month gone by.
March 2020 saw an unprecedented shutdown of the Indian automotive industry owing to the nationwide lockdown due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, new car sales were bound to take a substantial hit. Here’s a look at the top ten highest selling new cars in the month gone by, while the country is still under lockdown. Most of the names in this top ten list are familiar ones and on the face of it, things appear to be fine. But it’s when you look at the corresponding months figures that you realise just how much lower the sales numbers are for India’s bestselling cars for the month gone by.
So, here’s a closer look at how things went.
| Model | March 2020 sales units | February 2020 sales units | January 2020 sales units |
| Maruti Suzuki Baleno | 11,406 | 16,585 | 20,485 |
| Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 | 10,829 | 17,921 | 18,914 |
| Maruti Suzuki WagonR | 9,151 | 18,235 | 15,232 |
| Maruti Suzuki Swift | 8,575 | 18,696 | 19,981 |
| Kia Seltos | 7,466 | 14,024 | 15,000 |
| Hyundai Creta | 6,706 | 700 | 6,900 |
| Hyundai Venue | 6,127 | 10,321 | 6,733 |
| Maruti Suzuki Eeco | 5,966 | 11,227 | 12,324 |
| Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza | 5,513 | 6,866 | 10,134 |
| Maruti Suzuki Dzire | 5,476 | 7,296 | 22,406 |
The Maruti Suzuki Baleno is one of India's bestselling cars that on occasion tops the monthly sales charts as it did in March 2020. But the bestselling car for India last month only registered 11,406 units last month as opposed to 16,585 units in February and a whopping 20,485 in January, that's nearly twice the amount! It's a similar story for the Maruti Suzuki Alto 800, Swift and WagonR on this sales chart. The Kia Seltos meanwhile took a severe hit as figures dropped to nearly half from the previous months at just 7,466. And remember, the Seltos is a current hot seller in India. Hyundai's brand new Creta only just hit the market before the lockdown and it shows, just 6,127 units were sold as compared to about 10,000 units over and above that figure for a regular month. Sales of the Venue were also down, but that was because of the BS6 model launch in late March, which has resulted in an overall slowdown in sales for the compact SUV in recent months.
The remainder of the Maruti Suzuki models on the sales chart registered slow numbers in recent months for a more organic reason, all of them were being upgraded to meet BS6 emissions regulations and hit the market fairly recently. The Dzire was the only one still going strong in January with 22,406. The Vitara Brezza petrol was launched towards the end of February and before sales could take off, the lockdown came into play. The Dzire and Eeco BS6 meanwhile only hit the market in late March, just before the lockdown, hence their low numbers.
Going by how things are at the moment, with the lockdown set to extend for another two weeks, expect absolutely flat sales figures for new cars in the month of April 2020 as dealerships and factories continue to remain closed. Carmakers across the country though are making efforts to contribute to the current situation by producing ventilators and face masks to help the country take care of its coronavirus patients, aside from making generous donations to help the country get back on its feet sooner.
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