The wholesale numbers for July 2024 are out, and it’s amply clear that in the first four months of the fiscal year ending March 2025 (FY2025), SUVs have once again saved the blushes for the passenger vehicle segment. As per data released by SIAM on August 14, a total of 13.6 lakh cars, SUVs and vans were sold in the four months to July, up just 2 percent year on year, and at 8,68,132 units, SUVs and MPVs constituted 63 percent of sales.
Had it not been for the sustained sterling contribution from SUVs (up 15 percent), the continuing dismal performance of the hatchback and sedan sub-segments (4,48,549 units, down 17 percent) would have dragged overall PV numbers into the red.
India’s booming SUV market has 90-odd models. Let’s look at the top-10 selling among these in the April-July period.
| 10 best-selling SUVs April-July period | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Model | 2024 | 2023 | YoY change |
| Tata Punch | 72,466 | 45,067 | 61% |
| Hyundai Creta | 63,752 | 57,144 | 12% |
| Maruti Brezza | 59,147 | 52,355 | 13% |
| Mahindra Scorpio | 53,068 | 38,105 | 39% |
| Tata Nexon | 48,593 | 55,601 | -13% |
| Maruti Fronx | 47,580 | 39,858 | 19% |
| Hyundai Venue | 37,177 | 42,223 | -12% |
| Maruti Grand Vitara | 36,463 | 36,184 | 1% |
| Kia Sonet | 34,609 | 29,962 | 16% |
| Mahindra XUV 3XO | 32,501 | 19,814 | 64% |
| TOTAL | 4,85,356 | 4,16,313 | 17% |
Tata Punch: 72,466 units
The Tata Punch, which was India’s third best-selling SUV in FY2024 after the Tata Nexon and the Maruti Brezza, has taken an early lead in this fiscal. In April itself, it recorded a new monthly high of 19,158 units, the highest monthly stat for any SUV in the current fiscal.
In April-July, Tata Motors despatched 72,466 units of Punch, 61 percent more than the year-ago period, and the SUV comprised 54 percent share of its total SUV dispatches. For the past seven months, the Punch has not only outsold the Tata Nexon, its sibling and India’s best-selling SUV in FY2024, FY2023 and FY2022 but also recently aced the Bharat NCAP crash test with a five-star rating. In June 2024, the Punch hit the 4,00,000 sales milestone, becoming the fastest SUV model to do so in 33 months since its launch.
Hyundai Creta: 63,752 units
The Hyundai Creta, India’s best-selling midsize SUV and the No. 4 in FY2024, has jumped to the No. 2 position in the April-July period, with 63,752 units or 47 percent of Hyundai Motor India’s total SUV sales. The Creta got a booster shot on January 16 this year with the launch of the facelift, which has helped further accelerate its demand.
In July, the new Creta clocked its highest-ever monthly dispatches at 17,350 units and cruised to 1,00,000-unit sales in just six months, becoming the fastest in its segment to hit this milestone by taking half the time compared to the Maruti Grand Vitara.
Maruti Brezza: 59,147 units
At No. 3 is the Maruti Brezza compact SUV, whose sales rose 13 percent YoY in April-July to 59,147 units, of which 17,113 were sold in April. The Brezza had lost the No. 1 SUV title in FY2024 by just 2,032 units to the Tata Nexon. It drove past the million-units milestone in December.
Mahindra Scorpio: 53,068 units
Mahindra’s best-selling SUV continues to be the Scorpio in the form of the popular Scorpio-N and the Scorpio Classic. The Scorpio – No. 6 in FY2024 – now ranks fourth with 53,068 units sold, up 39 percent from a year ago; it constituted 23 percent of the company’s total SUV sales. The diesel-engine Scorpios sold 48,306 units, while the petrol-powered ones clocked 4,762 units. Between the Scorpio-N and the Classic, demand is understood to be sizeably more for the former.
Tata Nexon: 48,593 units
The Tata Nexon compact SUV, India’s bestselling SUV for three fiscals straight, is feeling the heat of the revved-up competition, and from its sibling, the Punch, no less. At 48,593 units, its sales are down 13 percent YoY. The Nexon, sold in petrol, diesel and electric avatars, is slated to get a CNG version later this fiscal.
Maruti Fronx: 47,580 units
Next is the Maruti Fronx compact SUV, whose sales rose 19 percent to 47,580 units, giving it a 21 percent pie of the company’s SUV sales. The Fronx has been the most successful of the three all-new Nexa models launched in FY2024 – the Jimny and Invicto are the other two. Not only was it the fastest Indian passenger vehicle to hit the 1,00,000 sales mark in 10 months, but it also surpassed the 1,50,000-units milestone just 14 months after its launch in April 2023.
Hyundai Venue: 37,177 units
The Venue, the first compact SUV from Hyundai Motor India, is the second model after the Tata Nexon to see a sales decline; it’s down 12 percent to 37,177 units. Its demand seems to have slipped because of the rollout of the Exter, Hyundai’s second compact SUV launched a year ago, which sold 28,398 units in April-July.
Maruti Grand Vitara: 36,463 units
At 36,463 units, the Maruti Grand Vitara’s sales are up just 1 percent YoY. In early July, this midsize SUV raced past the 2,00,000 milestone in 22 months. The Grand Vitara continues to be a key contributor to the carmaker’s Nexa sales and has been one of the models to help the premium sales channel achieve the 25 lakh-units milestone.
Kia Sonet: 34,609 units
The Kia Sonet compact SUV sold 34,609 units, up 16 percent YoY. It has emerged as Kia India’s highest-selling model partly due to the facelift that was launched in January.
The Sonet has outsold the Seltos midsize SUV for seven straight months and, along with the Carens MPV, has helped propel the demand for the Korean brand. It comprised 42 percent of Kia’s overall sales in the first four months of FY2025.
Mahindra XUV300/3XO: 32,501 units
The Mahindra XUV3XO and the pre-facelift model that was sold as the XUV300 sold 32,501 units, a 64 percent surge over the corresponding four months of the previous fiscal. The launch of the XUV3XO on April 29 has clearly recharged sales. The smallest Mahindra in town has been priced aggressively from Rs 7.49 lakh.
Compact SUVs outsell midsize SUVs
Compact SUVs continue to rule over midsize SUVs. The segment, which registered sales of over 10 lakh units in FY2024 and comprised 25 percent of the record 25.2 lakh SUV dispatches in India, constituted 51 percent of SUV sales in the April-July period, with 4,46,685 units being despatched. The top-10 models listed above together add up to 4,85,356 units, of which 3,32,073 were compact SUVs and 1,53,283 were midsize SUVs. Small, as they say, can often be big.
Also see:
Tata Punch is India's bestselling car from January-July 2024
Deep Drive Podcast: Evaluating FY24 car sales
Maruti responds to slowing sales by lowering production