Launched on October 18, 2021, the popular compact SUV sold with petrol, CNG and electric powertrains is both India’s best-selling passenger vehicle as well as SUV in the calendar year to date and first-half FY2025. In FY2024, the Punch clocked 169,844 units and averaged monthly sales of 14,153 units but with 101,820 units in April-September 2024 and averaging 16,970 units a month, it is headed for record sales in FY2025.
21 Oct 2024 | 9606 Views | By Ajit Dalvi
The Tata Punch, launched on October 18, 2021, turned three years old a few days ago. The popular compact SUV, which is currently sold with petrol, CNG and electric powertrains, has since launch sold an estimated 458,199 units in the domestic market.
Having identified a ‘white space’ in ...
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The Tata Punch, launched on October 18, 2021, turned three years old a few days ago. The popular compact SUV, which is currently sold with petrol, CNG and electric powertrains, has since launch sold an estimated 458,199 units in the domestic market.
Having identified a ‘white space’ in the Indian PV market, Tata Motors launched the Punch with an aggressive pricing strategy starting at Rs 549,000. The Punch mini-SUV was positioned as a compelling and affordable model – an entry level SUV that could challenge even premium hatchbacks, tall-boy hatchbacks and also compact sedans in the value-conscious Indian passenger vehicle market.
The Punch’s USP has been its compelling SUV attributes such as a high unladen ground clearance, high seating for a commanding view of the road and also a tall stance for easy ingress and egress. Clearly, the strategy seems to have paid off in spades.
The sharp focus on vehicle safety has also paid dividends in a market which was becoming aware of the need to buy high-on-safety passenger cars, SUVs and MPVs. On October 18, 2021, four days before its launch, the Tata Punch aced the Global NCAP crash test with a top five-star rating. In June 2024, the Tata Punch EV has also scored a 5-star rating in the Bharat NCAP crash test.
As per wholesales data for the past 36 months, the Tata Punch’s best 12-month performance was in FY2024 with 169,844 units or average monthly sales of 14,153 units. With average monthly sales of 16,970 units in the past six months, it is well set to notch a new record this fiscal. Will it hit the 200,000 milestone in FY2025? We’ll have to wait six months to know that.
The Punch has raised the sales bar with every 100,000 units. In August 2022, it became the first SUV in India to achieve the 100,000 wholesales milestone in just 10 months, crossed the 150,000 mark in 15 months after launch, 200,000 in 20 months, 300,000 in 28 months, and 400,000 in June 2024, just 33 months after launch. Now, the 450,000 wholesales mark has also been surpassed.
Tata Punch outsells Maruti Wagon R from January to September
The Punch continues to punch above its weight and even draws buyers from other vehicle segments. In the first nine months of the current calendar year, the Punch has clocked total dispatches of 155,783 units, ahead of the Maruti Wagon R (145,648 units), Hyundai Creta (141,362 units), Maruti Ertiga (140,110 units) and the Maruti Brezza (139,340 units). These are the top five passenger vehicles in India at present.
Going past the Wagon R is a creditable achievement, given that the popular tall-boy hatchback has been India's best-selling passenger vehicle for three fiscals in a row: FY2024 (200,177 units), FY2023 and FY2022.
As a result, in the current fiscal year too, it is the No. 1. At 101,820 units sold between April and September 2024, the Punch is currently both the best-selling passenger vehicle as well as the best-selling SUV in India.
The Tata Punch is ahead of four other models which have crossed the 90,000-unit wholesales mark in the first six months of FY2025 – Hyundai Creta (96,416 units), Maruti Ertiga (95,461 units), Maruti Brezza (93,659 units), and Maruti Wagon R (92,112 units).
The Punch has also outsold its sibling the Tata Nexon – India’s best-selling SUV in FY2024, FY2023 and FY2022 – for the past nine months, and recently aced the Bharat NCAP crash test with a top five-star rating. The Punch’s H1 FY2025 sales of 101,820 units give it an exact 50% share of Tata Motors’ total UV dispatches of 203,065 units.
Powertrain-wise, customer demand is maximum for the petrol variant and between January and June, the petrol variant accounted for 53% of overall Punch sales, followed by CNG (33%) and EV (14%).
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