The Hindu Business Line : Innova captures 15 pc market share in the South

Toyota-Kirloskar said on Wednesday that its Innova car, with a 15 per cent share of the Rs 5-12 lakh category, has emerged market leader in the South.

The Deputy General Manager for sales for South and East, Mr Sailesh Shetty, told newspersons on Wednesday that Innova with sales of 6,676 units across the four southern States, cornered 15 per cent share of the market during the first six months of 2006. While the industry grew 22 per cent during the same period, Innova's sales grew 35 per cent. During the last two quarters, Innova's market share increased 5 per cent capturing 12 per cent market share during January-March 2006 and 17 per cent during April-June, 2006 period. Innova expects to sell 14,400 units during 2006 in southern markets, which is 41 per cent more than last year's sales. Innova's top end models still sell the most with a share of 75 per cent of the total sales.

"We expect more business from the travel segment," Mr Shetty said. He said the sales of the diesel range of Innova formed as much as 93 per cent of the total sales of the car.

Innova, whose price ranges between Rs 7 lakh and 10 lakh, has also been able to draw sedan customers, according to him.

He added that Innova sales in the sedan category across the South were encouraging.

"In addition to the MPV (multi purpose vehicle) customers, Innova has made a dent in the highly-competitive sedan category as well. Innova is a preferred vehicle for both sedan and MPV customers as it provides styling of a sedan and performance and space of an MPV," Mr Shetty said.

In Karnataka, Innova is the market leader with 14 per cent share. In Andhra Pradesh, Innova is the second largest in terms of sales in the Rs 5-12 lakh category with a 16 per cent market share.

In Kerala, it leads the market in its segment with a market share of 19 per cent while in Tamil Nadu, it has a 14 per cent market share and is the second largest selling car. In the multi purpose vehicle segment, Innova has a 35 per cent market share in South India.