That SUVs are seeing a continuous rise in sales isn’t a big surprise, however, what’s interesting to note is that the often deprecated MPVs and vans have also shown a healthy growth as well. As per our FY2022 sales analysis with automotive data analytics specialist JATO Dynamics India, the MPV and van segment saw a total domestic sales of 3,67,685 units in FY2022, with almost every model recording exponential growth. However, two notable models did go against that trend – the Renault Triber and the Mahindra Marazzo.

Drivers of the growth

Topping the MPV sales chart was the venerable Maruti Suzuki Ertiga having sold 1,17,150 units in FY2022, recording a 32.27 percent growth over FY2021. In second spot was the Maruti Eeco, selling 1,08,345 units, which corresponded to a modest 3.11 percent growth. Third spot went to the Toyota Innova Crysta, which sold 54,218 units, posting a growth of 42.93 percent over the previous financial year.

Further down the chart, in fourth place, was Maruti Suzuki’s XL6, which sold 39,090 units and recorded a growth of 51.32 percent. The Kia Carens – introduced at the fag end of FY2022 –recorded strong sales of 12,692 units in less than two months. The Kia Carnival, too, despite being positioned at the pricier side of the segment, saw a growth of 53.86 percent with 4,302 units sold.

The growth is thus quite substantial, over 30 percent for the Marutis and the Toyota. Interestingly, except for the Kia Carens, none of these are all-new models and have been in the market for quite some time. In fact, the duo of the Ertiga and XL6 were only updated at the beginning of the current financial year, while the Innova Crysta received a mid-life facelift back in November 2020.

The exceptions

The Renault Triber was, however, among the two major models that saw a substantial drop. Renault sold 29,678 units of the Triber in FY2022, registering a sharp decline of 27.54 percent. This is despite the fact that the Triber sits in a volume segment (sub-4m) and is a well-equipped and packaged offering.

And although the Triber was quite successful initially, its decline could boil down to one specific reason. While Renault failed to keep the Triber updated across its three-year lifetime – with only mild equipment updates – it did not offer the much anticipated and more powerful turbo engine. In fact, our sources tell us that the vehicle is ready technically, but is yet to launch.

The current 1.0-litre naturally aspirated engine falls short in performance and Renault was expected to offer the more powerful turbo version as an option soon. However, the introduction was delayed, perhaps due to the ongoing global chip shortage, and also in a bid to keep the more powerful engine exclusive for some time to the Kiger compact SUV that was launched later. Renault could still equip the Triber with the 1.0-litre turbo-petrol engine in the future, and that could revive sales.

The other model that suffered a setback was the Mahindra Marazzo. The Marazzo was slow to pick up sales right from the onset, and being available with a sole diesel-manual powertrain and missing other niceties offered by its rivals, the Marazzo has found few takers since. Mahindra sold just 1,692 units of the Marazzo in FY2022, recording a 48.18 percent drop in sales.

What else do you think Renault and Mahindra could do to revive the Triber and Marazzo sales? Let us know in the comments below.