One out of every four cars bought in India is now an SUV - Report

13/04/2017 - 13:47 | ,  ,   | Aravind Jayachandran

Fueled by sales of products like the Maruti Vitara Brezza and Hyundai Creta.

From data provided by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, it appears that one out of every four cars sold in India is now an SUV.

Maruti Vitara Brezza front three quarter far full review
The Maruti Vitara Brezza has consistently become the top selling UV, and has enabled many hatchback owners to upgrade to an affordable compact SUV.

The growth in the SUV segment is being fueled by sales of compact SUVs like the Hyundai Creta and Maruti Vitara Brezza. Interestingly, despite the INR 10+ Lakh price tag and the initial hype done with, Hyundai is managing to push good volumes of the Creta into the market; last month alone, they sold 10,001 units. As for the Maruti Vitara Brezza, it has consistently become the top selling UV, with waiting period extending to 6 months.

Seven years ago, the SUV segments only had a share of 14 percent overall passenger vehicle, but today SUV sales account for 25 percent, which is only going to increase as demand rises and more competitively-priced products enter the segment.

Tata Nexon Geneva Edition front three quarter at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show
The percentage is only going to increase as more competitively-priced products enter the segment in the next 4 years.

The share is expected to move past 35 percent in the coming years, with Tata Motors launching the much-awaited Tata Nexon in India later this year, which will take the fight to the Maruti Vitara Brezza, and Renault bringing the new Duster-based Renault Captur during Diwali to rival top-end models of the Hyundai Creta besides a Kwid-based SUV codenamed HBC.

VW will be re-entering the SUV segment with the all-new Tiguan in May, and Nissan will bring an adapted version of the Kicks next year. Hyundai also has the Carlino sub-4m SUV in the pipeline for launch in 2019, and a seven-seat variant of the Creta in 2021 to reach deeper into the market.

SUV specialist Mahindra is planning a bout of launches with the Tivoli-based Mahindra S201, Rexton-based Mahindra XUV700, and a seven-seat variant of the Mahindra TUV300, all of which will launch by mid-2018.

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