Large utility vehicles race past compact cars in growth lane

Mumbai: Sales of large utility vehicles such as SUVs and MPVs, which meet the government’s definition of ‘popular SUVs’, advanced at a faster clip of 27% in FY24 ahead of a 25% growth in the compact SUV segment, according to analysis of data compiled by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam).
While compact SUV models – defined as per body type and ground clearance – are driving the surge in the overall passenger vehicle market on account of their larger share in absolute terms, bigger UVs are fast catching up.

Clearly, the shift towards bigger vehicles have benefitted Mahindra & Mahindra and Toyota Kirloskar the most. Led by the XUV700, Scorpio-N and other models, Mahindra’s market share in the large UV segment (classified as UV2 by Siam) rose to 45% in FY24 – the highest in four years – from 28% in FY21, helping the firm surpass the pre-Covid peak of 44% in FY19.

Driven by the Innova Crysta and Hycross models, Toyota too saw a sharp ascent driving the UV3 segment – as per Siam’s classification – almost single handedly, boosting the automaker’s sales by 77% YoY to 100,293 vehicles in FY24. Sales of large UV models – priced above ₹20 lakh, measuring 4.4 meters and engine displacement of at least 1.5 litres – such as Mahindra XUV7OO, Tata Safari, Kia Carens, Toyota Innova Hycross climbed to 525,000 units in FY24 from 412,000 units in previous year, marking fastest pace of growth since FY21, according to Siam data.

Compact UVs, making up bulk of UV sales including those which don’t conform to GST Council’s definition, with models such as Maruti Suzuki Brezza, Tata Nexon and Punch, Hyundai Venue and Exter, rose to more than 1.25 million units from 1 milliion units in the same period.

The high double-digit growth seen in large SUV segment may taper off in coming years, said Puneet Gupta, director S&P Global Mobility, a sales forecast and market research firm.