The Tata Punch, ranked No. 4 in CY2023, has done well in the first 11 months of CY2024 to sell 186,958 units and should surpass the 200,000 milestone this year. The launch of the new Hyundai Creta in January gave a new charge to India’s best-selling midsize SUV which, at 174,311 units, is poised to be the No. 2 UV once December numbers are counted albeit the Maruti Ertiga is snapping at its wheels.
25 Dec 2024 | 5495 Views | By Ajit Dalvi
As calendar year 2024 draws to a close, the countdown to the Top 10 SUVs and utility vehicles has begun. After the first 11 months, the Tata Punch and the Hyundai Creta are leading the Top 10 UV and SUV chart with 186,958 units and 174,311 units respectively. Although December ...
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As calendar year 2024 draws to a close, the countdown to the Top 10 SUVs and utility vehicles has begun. After the first 11 months, the Tata Punch and the Hyundai Creta are leading the Top 10 UV and SUV chart with 186,958 units and 174,311 units respectively. Although December 2024 wholesales have yet to be counted, the Punch’s strong lead of 12,647 units over the Creta should enable it to clinch the No. 1 SUV and UV title for CY2024. Each of the Top 10 models in this listing has sold over 100,000 units.
The Tata Punch, sold in petrol, CNG and electric avatars and in 3 variants – 25 ICE and eight electric – has done well in 2024. The compact SUV, which was ranked No. 4 in CY2023 with 150,182 units, has surpassed that score in the January-November 2024 period (186,958 units) by 36,776 units. The Punch’s best monthly sales this year were in April (estimated at 19,158 units). Considering it has averaged dispatches of nearly 17,000 units each month, the Tata Punch will cross the annual 200,000-units milestone for the first time.
Meanwhile, in fiscal year 2025’s first eight months, the Tata Punch is currently leading the UV rankings with 132,995 units, albeit the Hyundai Creta (129,365 units) is hard on its heels, the gap just 3,630 units.
The Hyundai Creta, India’s best-selling midsize SUV and the No. 3 UV in CY2023 (157,311 units), is currently No. 2 in January-November 2024 with 174,311 units. Demand for the Creta took off after the launch of the new-gen model in January. Festival-laden October 2024 (17,497 units) has been the Creta’s best wholesales month this year. What will add tailwinds to the Creta’s sales in 2025 will be the launch of the Creta EV, which will challenge the Tata Curvv EV and the Mahindra BE 6.
Just 276 units behind the Creta and ranked third is the popular Maruti Ertiga with 174,035 units. The Ertiga – Maruti Suzuki India's first crack at the MPV segment – which drove past the million-unit sales milestone in February 2024, benefits from clever packaging. Despite being a seven-seater, it is still compact in dimensions, and its light controls and good all-round visibility make it very user-friendly and easy to drive. The interiors are spacious and feel plush, and the well-cushioned seats take cabin comfort up a few notches. Strong and sustained demand, particularly the CNG variant, means that this model has already sold 44,067 units more than its entire CY2023 sales of 129,968 units (when it was ranked fifth), with December sales still to be counted. August 2024, with 18,580 units, was its best month this year.
The Maruti Brezza compact SUV is currently No. 4 with 170,823 units, having fallen three ranks on its CY2023 sales (170,588 units) when it had pipped the Tata Nexon to the No. 1 SUV title. After the first 11 months of 2024, Brezza wholesales are just 235 units more than last year’s total. Clearly, the competition in compact SUVs, which is the hottest UV sub-segment, has increased hugely and adversely impacted last year’s champion.
The Mahindra Scorpio, which is currently the best-selling model for the SUV maker in the form of Scorpio N and Scorpio Classic, is at No. 5. The midsize SUV, available in 32 variants, has sold 154,169 units in the January-November 2024 period – this is 32,749 units more than in CY2023 (121,420 units) when it was ranked No. 7 and indicates just how strong demand has been for this model.
The current No. 6 UV is the Tata Nexon (148,073 units), which was No. 2 in CY2023 (170,312 units, and No. 1 both in CY2022 (168,278 units) and CY2021. Unlike the past three years, customer demand for the compact SUV has been slow this year. The Nexon, which is available with petrol, diesel, electric and CNG powerplants and all of 85 variants (70 ICE and 15 EV), is the first of the two models in the Top 10 list not to have gone past its CY2023 total. After the first 11 months of 2024, the Nexon is down by a sizeable 22,239 units compared to its CY2023 sales. And sibling Punch has been outselling it right since January 2024 by a wide margin.
The Maruti Fronx compact SUV takes No. 7 position with 145,484 units, up four ranks from No. 11 in CY2023 (94,393 units). In September this year, the Fronx became the second Nexa SUV to achieve 200,000 sales, after sibling Grand Vitara.
The Maruti Grand Vitara, with 115,564 units in January-November 2024, maintains the same No. 8 ranking it had in CY2023 (113,387 units). Sales this year for the midsize SUV, which recently crossed cumulative wholesales of 250,000 units since its launch in September 2022, have been tepid. Nevertheless, Maruti Suzuki India’s flagship model's USP remains its fuel-efficient hybrid system, clever packaging and interior quality.
The Hyundai Venue, the Korean manufacturer’s first compact SUV, is the other SUV in this Top 10 list to have not surpassed its CY2023 sales total. Ranked No. 9 with 107,554 units sold in January-November 2024, the Venue has dropped four positions from No 6 in CY2023 (129,276 units). Demand has been flagging for the Venue, particularly since sibling Exter rolled in. With the next-gen Venue, which will enhance the model’s desirability quotient, slated for launch only by end-2025 or early 2026, sales of the current model will, most likely, continue to be tepid in CY2025.
The Kia Sonet has delivered a strong showing this year. With 103,353 units sold in the first 11 months, the Sonet takes 10th position, up three positions from No. 13 in CY2023 (79,776 units). The rollout of the new model has clearly accelerated demand for this compact SUV. The Sonet is currently the best-selling Kia model in India, and continues to outsell the Seltos every month.
This compact SUV six-pack has a 60% share of the Top 10 utility vehicles in January-November 2024.
Compact SUVs or models less than 4000mm in length continue to be the movers and shakers of India’s utility vehicle market which, at last count in December 20224, has all of 128 models with a mind-boggling 1,011 variants from 34 vehicle manufacturers.
In the Top 10 UVs ranking for the January-November 2024, this vehicle category has a 60% share in the form of the Tata Punch, Maruti Brezza, Tata Nexon, Maruti Fronx, Hyundai Venue and Kia Sonet. While the midsize SUV market has three – Hyundai Creta, Mahindra Scorpio and Maruti Grand Vitara – the MPV segment is represented by the longstanding champion, the Maruti Ertiga.
From an OEM perspective, Maruti Suzuki has four models in the Top 10 UV table, reason enough why the company will once again be the UV market leader in CY2024.
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