The SUV segment has been growing at a phenomenal pace, increasing its share in the overall passenger vehicle (PV) sales from 18% in 2016 to 38% in 2021, thus eating into the market of sedans and hatchbacks.
While sedans accounted for 20% of the total PV sales in 2016, their share dropped to 10% in 2021. From 50% in 2016, the share of the hatchbacks declined to 40% of the total PV sales in 2021.
As many as 11,84,558 units of sport utility vehicles (SUVs) were sold in the domestic market in 2021, with top original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) being Hyundai Motor India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, Kia India and Maruti Suzuki India.
Hyundai Motor India retained the SUV market leadership with its SUV sales growing 40% year-on-year (y-o-y) to 2,52,586 units in 2021. At 1,25,437 units, Creta was the company’s as well as India’s largest-selling SUV model during the calendar year. Venue garnered sales of 1,08,007 units. The company also has in its portfolio models like Alcazar, Tucson and Kona EV.
In 2022, Hyundai Motor India is expected to launch the updated Venue as well as the all-new Tucson, apart from an electric car.
Mahindra & Mahindra was the second-largest SUV brand in 2021, witnessing a 52% y-o-y jump in SUV sales to 1,99,608 units. Among its largest-selling SUV models in 2021 were Bolero, XUV300 and Scorpio. The demand for the XUV700 and the second-generation Thar has also been robust, which can be gauged from the long waiting period on these two models. The company will launch the all-new Scorpio in India in 2022.
“Over the last two years, we have seen a consistent and strong demand across our SUV brands. As makers of authentic SUVs, our offerings are across the complete spectrum of SUVs providing differentiated experience to our customers.”
“The XUV700 continues to record unprecedented bookings and we are committed to a smooth delivery process. The recently launched Bolero Neo, all-new Thar and even the XUV300, are making sizeable contributions to the demand rebound,” Veejay Nakra, CEO, automotive division, Mahindra & Mahindra, told FE.
“As a part of our strategy, at a portfolio level, we continue to focus on bringing offerings in both the diesel and petrol powertrains to delight our customers. In fact, our mStallion range of petrol engines powered with TGDI technology has helped address the growing demand for petrol variants in the category,” he added.
On the back of an exceptional performance by Nexon, Tata Motors registered a rise of 181% y-o-y in SUV sales to 1,77,544 units in 2021. During the calendar year, the company sold 1,08,577 units of Nexon alone. Tata Motors had added two SUVs to its ‘New Forever’ PV range in 2021. While Safari was launched in February, Punch entered the market in October. The automaker also sells Harrier SUV.
Kia India, which sells models such as Seltos and Sonet, posted a y-o-y growth of 31% in SUV sales to 1,77,476 units in 2021. It despatched 98,187 units of Seltos and 79,289 units of Sonet to the dealerships during the calendar year.
With only a couple of SUVs, Vitara Brezza and S-Cross, in its portfolio, Maruti Suzuki India’s SUV sales expanded 38% y-o-y to 1,36,351 units in 2021. At 1,15,962 units, Vitara Brezza was India’s second-largest selling SUV in 2021 after Creta.
“There are certain factors which have to be taken into account to have a better perspective of the SUV segment with respect to Maruti Suzuki. Within the SUV, we have three segments — entry, mid and large. Our market share without considering the SUV is 65%, whereas if you include SUV, it comes down to just under 50%. This disparity is primarily due to the mid-level SUV segment,” said Shashank Srivastava, senior executive director (marketing & sales), Maruti Suzuki India.
“There are about 43 brands in the SUV segment in the country out of which Maruti Suzuki has two brands currently. This includes Vitara Brezza and S-Cross. While in the entry SUV market, Vitara Brezza remains to be the leader with around 24% market share, our presence is comparatively weak in the mid-level SUV segment as compared to the competition. Hence, in order to focus on dominance in the SUV market, as well to gain a larger market share in the country, we are looking to strengthen our SUV portfolio and also improving our existing models and technologies,” he added.
According to sources, Maruti Suzuki India will launch the new Vitara Brezza in the second quarter of 2022. The company will introduce a new mid-size SUV, which it is developing with Toyota, in the third quarter of 2022 and it will rival the likes of Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos.
Automotive analytics and consulting firm JATO Dynamics India’s President Ravi G Bhatia said that customers like higher driving positions, ground clearance, and aggressive design of the SUVs, and they are perceived to be more capable in all road conditions.
“Their popularity is so high that brands historically associated with sports cars and luxury sedans are now selling more SUVs than those cars, Porsche, Volvo, Rolls-Royce, Lamborghini, for instance. The SUV boom has become a long-term trend driving the growth in the industry. We forecast that the SUVs will overtake hatchbacks in 2022,” Bhatia noted.