2 out of 5 car buyers opt for SUV in the first five months of of 2022

In the first five months of 2022, two out of five car buyers opted for SUVs, cementing consumer preference for the body style in a market where hatchbacks comprised nearly half the sales of passenger vehicles seven years back in 2015, ET reported.

In view of the growing demand, manufacturers are offering a range of feature-rich entry-level SUVs that comprised 21 percent of the sales in the domestic market.

Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motor India, the two market leaders in the country, are ready to battle it out with the launch of Brezza and Venue this month to strengthen their presence in the segment.

Other top players like Tata Motors and Kia India are competing to gain the market share where the shift in customers' choice is moving towards SUVs from hatchbacks.

As many as 638,000 entry-level SUVs were sold in the local market last year, ahead of premium hatchbacks whose sales amounted to 365,000 units in the period under review, said the report. 

SUVs sales jumped as much as 41 percent of all passenger vehicles sold in Jan-May 2022,  which was 13.5 percent in CY2015.

The hatchback sales are down to 35 percent from 49 percent in the same period.

Hyundai sold about 250,000 SUVs in India to retain market leadership with a share of 22 percent in the segment while Tata Motors sold 205,000 SUVs for a share of 18 percent in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022. Maruti Suzuki, which has a single model Brezza, had a share of about 12 percent.