Kia India and Skoda Auto India have witnessed a significant sales boost in March, driven by the rising popularity of sub-4 metre SUVs. Kia recorded sales of 25,525 units, marking its third-highest monthly performance and a year-on-year growth of 19.3%. Skoda, meanwhile, achieved its best-ever monthly sales, delivering 7,422 vehicles.
This success can be largely attributed to two new compact SUV models—Kia’s Syros and Skoda’s Kylaq. Syros, launched on February 1, has already sold 15,986 units in just two months. Kylaq, which began deliveries on January 27, has already received over 15,000 bookings. Both models have entered a hotly contested segment and quickly found favour among the consumers.
Industry experts said the continued consumer shift toward SUVs is fuelling this momentum.
According to an analyst, the SUV body style is so popular that even hatchbacks designed to look like SUVs are thriving. Maruti Suzuki’s Fronx, for instance, is based on the Baleno hatchback but features SUV-inspired styling. Despite being more expensive, Fronx now outsells Baleno. The appeal of compact SUVs lies in their higher seating position, improved ground clearance, and the ability to handle rough roads better than hatchbacks.
For Kia, Syros is its second offering in the compact SUV segment, following the success of Sonet. Hardeep Singh Brar, senior vice president and head of sales & marketing at Kia India, expressed satisfaction with the model’s reception. He noted that in just its second month, Syros contributed 20% of Kia’s total sales and played a significant role in helping the company achieve 15.6% growth in the January-March quarter, with 75,576 units sold.
What sets the Syros apart in a crowded field of 16 sub-4 metre SUVs is its feature-rich offering. It includes segment-first features such as rear-seat slide and recline, ventilated seats, a dual-pane panoramic sunroof, and Level 2 ADAS. Another key differentiator is its availability in both petrol and diesel variants, an uncommon choice in this category. Syros is priced between Rs 8.99 lakh and Rs 16.99 lakh (ex-showroom).
Skoda is also scaling up to meet the strong demand for Kylaq. Brand director Petr Janeba referred to the model’s success as the beginning of a new era for Skoda in India.
He noted that the March sales figures were a result of the company’s focus on making European technology accessible to Indian consumers. To continue attracting buyers, Skoda has extended Kylaq’s introductory pricing of Rs 7.89 lakh to Rs 14.4 lakh (ex-showroom) until the end of April.
The company aims to deliver all 15,000 pending Kylaq bookings by the end of May and plans to expand its sales and service network from 280 to 350 touchpoints by the end of the year.
Together, Syros and Kylaq are expected to further energise the sub-4 metre SUV segment, which has already shown remarkable growth. According to industry data for April to February FY25, this segment accounted for 31.3% of total passenger vehicle sales, with 1,196,065 units sold out of a total 3,821,852 vehicles.
