Skoda, Toyota Dominates Executive Sedan Segment In India

Czech car manufacturer Skoda Auto and Japanese carmaker Toyota Motor Company together sold nearly 78 per cent of the vehicles in the executive sedan segment in India for the month of July 2017.

As per data released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Toyota Kirloskar sold 401 units of Corolla (price starts at Rs 14.8 lakh) in July 2017 while Skoda sold 457 units on the back of strong demand for the recently launched Octavia (price starts at Rs 14.9 lakh).

Together, both the carmakers sold 858 units of executive sedans while total sales in the segment stood at 1102 units in July 2017.

The only other significant player in the segment was South Korean automaker Hyundai, which sold 158 units of its recently launched sedan Elantra (price starts at Rs 12.4 lakh). Hyundai is now all set to launch upgraded version of its midsize sedan Verna on 22 August for which it has already started booking.

Fiat India which has model Linea in the same segment could find only 38 takers in July 2017, down from 123 units in the same month last year while there were no buyers for Volkswagen Jetta and Renault Fluence.

The executive sedan segment which is smaller than country’s luxury car segment is witnessing quite a furry of launches in recent months and it is only a matter of time that the segment might register a healthy growth.

There is a strong buzz in the motown that market leader Maruti Suzuki is planning to come up with a new vehicle in the segment. Maruti Suzuki had previously launched Kizashi in 2011 but later pulled it back from the market.

A launch by Maruti Suzuki in any segment means widening of the segment because of the large network and good reputation it commands among people. Moreover, Skoda India is also coming up with Octavia RS next month.

The other two cars of the same segment which is expected to hit Indian roads in near future are new Honda Civic and the seventh-generation 2018 Volkswagen Jetta.