The sports activities utility automobile phase has change into the largest-selling car physique sort within the Indian market in 2022. This the primary time in a calendar yr that the SUV has overtaken the standard hatchback, which was the first alternative for thousands and thousands of Indians over time.

• SUV gross sales in 2022 stand at 1.47 million items
• SUV market share goes up from 38.2 p.c to 41.7 p.c in 2022

SUV gross sales have doubled since 2019

Increased affordability because of rising disposable earnings and excessive decibel new automobile launches over time has expanded the bouquet of decisions for the potential Indian purchaser. As per the info sourced from Jato Dynamics India, the gross sales of hatchbacks in 2022 stood at 1.24 million versus SUVs at 1.47 million items.  

Over the final 4 years, the volumes of hatchbacks have come down – in 2019, the quantity stood at 1.37 million. In the identical time-frame, the gross sales of SUVs have nearly doubled from 7.77 lakh items to 1.47 million items in 2022.  

Ravi Bhatia, president, Jato Dynamics India, says SUVs are thought-about to be a increase that grew to become a long-term development and continues to drive the expansion within the trade. SUVs saved many producers from the monetary disaster years and are actually the one supply of earnings for a lot of carmakers.

“The SUV body style allows manufacturers to earn more profit than on the hatchback platform,” Bhatia stated. “They are popular because of their high driving position, which gives a sense of safety when driving, especially the older people. Plus, the ground clearance is higher, it is more comfortable to get in and out, also especially for older people.” 

One of the important thing contributors to the SUV phase was the launch of the entry-level Tata Punch SUV. It was aided by the entry of Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara within the midsize SUV house, together with its world alliance companion Toyota’s Urban Cruiser Hyryder, which has introduced within the incremental volumes.

Shashank Srivastava, senior govt director, Sales and Marketing at Maruti Suzuki, says the elevated choice in the direction of SUVs has been as a result of design, robust highway presence, excessive floor clearance and seating place, and the pliability in utilization of inside house. “There is an overlap in consideration, as the entry SUV prices have started overlapping with premium hatchbacks and entry sedans in the market,” added Srivastava. 

SUVs prone to account for 42 p.c of whole PV gross sales in 2022

The launches of entry-level SUVs took a large chunk of hatchbacks and entry sedans from {the marketplace}. The share of the hatchbacks available in the market is prone to be the bottom ever in a number of a long time at 35 p.c. At the tip of calendar yr 2022, the SUV phase is prone to account for 42 p.c of whole passenger automobile gross sales, up from 26 p.c share the phase had in 2019. Meanwhile, the share of hatchbacks in the identical timeframe has dropped from 46 p.c in 2019 of the general market to 35 p.c on the finish of 2022.  

The share of SUVs is inching nearer to developed markets like Europe, the place 45 p.c of the gross sales comes from this phase. In the final three years, the alternatives in SUVs have gone up from a dozen fashions to over a few dozen, and at present the autos can be found from a value level of Rs 6 lakh going upwards of Rs 1 crore.

And SUVs additionally include a large number of powertrain choices – petrol, diesel, hybrid and electrical – for a purchaser to select from. Tata Motors, the nation’s third largest carmaker, has capitalised from the multi-powertrain technique – of providing petrol, diesel and electrical choices on the Nexon SUV. This has made the car the highest-selling SUV available in the market with a month-to-month quantity of 15,000 items. The Nexon, in tandem with the Punch, helped Tata Motors change into the chief within the SUV phase.

Given the shift in choice for SUVs, new entrants like Kia and MG have completely targeted on the rising utility automobile house. Bhatia says that the recognition of SUV is so large that manufacturers who’ve traditionally been about sports activities cars and luxurious sedans are actually promoting extra SUVs than these cars. Porsche, Volvo, Rolls-Royce, Lamborghini, as an illustration.

Over time, the providing has additionally improved rather a lot and SUVs have remodeled from being boxy and costly (previous Land Rovers and Toyotas) to change into extra fashionable and reasonably priced.

Source – JATO Dynamics India

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