SUV Rules India! 41% New Car Buyers Opted For SUV In 2022; 638,000 SUVs Sold In India In 2021

Latest data has shown that two of every five car buyers have chosen to buy an SUV in the first five months of 2022. This has shown that customers are now going for SUVs more now as compared to their preference for hatchbacks in 2015. 

The leaders of the automobile industry, Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motor India are already marking their presence in the market with the launch of their new versions of Brezza and Venue this month. This will help them make their position stronger.

Automobile Market Sold 638,000 Entry Level SUVs Last Year

As we all know, the competition between automobile manufacturers is increasing day by day. Tata Motors and Kia India also have a strong presence in the market. 

The market has sold as many as 638,000 entry-level SUVs last year, as compared to 365,000 units that premium hatchbacks sold. 

SUVs accounted for 41% of passenger car sales in January-May 2022, up from 13.5 percent in CY2015. The share of hatchbacks has decreased from 49 percent to 35 percent in the same time span.

Hyundai, which led the SUV market for the previous two years (2020 and 2021), is confident in its ability to maintain its dominance in the space in the future.

As per Tarun Garg, director (sales, marketing and service) at Hyundai Motor India, “As of now what (the rankings) you are seeing in the market is all dependent on supply (with chip shortage affecting production globally), not on demand.”

25,000 Orders Of Hyundai Venue Pending

He also confirmed that there are 20,000-25,000 orders of the Hyundai Venue are pending. The car has made up for 42% of Hyundai’s SUV sales in 2021. 

The new Venue, priced between Rs. 7.53 – Rs. 9.99 lakh (ex-showroom, India), will be launched soon, and has already received an additional 15,000 bookings. In the fiscal year that ended March 31, 2022, Hyundai sold nearly 250,000 SUVs in India, maintaining its market leadership with a 22 percent market share.

However, due to an increase in Tata Punch sales, Hyundai Motor India and Tata Motors have remained neck-and-neck in monthly SUV numbers for the previous few months. Tata Motors sold 205,000 SUVs in FY22, accounting for 18% of the market. In the same timespan, Mahindra & Mahindra had a 14 percent market share (excluding the Bolero). Maruti Suzuki had a 12 percent market share with only one model, the Brezza.