Fortune favoured only a few new cars as demonetisation strikes

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation drive taking a heavy toll on car sales in the month of November, a few models stood out. 

One such exception was the new Toyota Fortuner which launched just a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the announcement of the demonetisation of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. The car posted a 238.7% rise in month-on-month (MoM) and also an 81.9% year-on-year (YoY) growth in sales. Toyota sold 1,924 units of the new Fortuner in November from 568 units a month earlier, according to data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

The newly launched Hyundai Tucson too saw a 30.5% growth in sales during November. It sold 261 units in November from 200 units in October.

While Ford Mustang saw a phenomenal growth in sales during the month of November with 59 units from just 64 units sold in the four months since its launch. Another car from the Ford stable the new Ford Endeavour saw a 44.8% MoM growth in sales. It sold 562 units during the month from 388 units in October.

However, new top selling cars such as Renault Kwid, Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, Volkswagen Ameo, Mahindra KUV100 and Datsun RediGo were less fortunate.

While VW Ameo saw a high 48.8% decline in month-on-month sales during November, Renault Kwid's sales slumped by 19.9%. Even Maruti Suzuki's top selling new car Vitara Brezza posted a 3.4% decline in sales during November. Tata Motors' Tiago saw a smaller 1.6% decline in sales during the month. Datsun RediGo too saw a 37.7% decline in sales.

Mahindra which saw a 33% decline in sales in November saw the sales of its new cars KUV100 and NuvoSport decline the most. While sales of KUV100 fell by 54.8%, NuvoSport sales declined by 73.5%.