With 1.38 million units sold in FY2025, less-than-4,000mm-long or compact SUVs registered 10% growth and accounted for nearly 50% of the record 2.79 million utility vehicles sold in India. Ten of the 20 models in this ultra-competitive segment have stood out, led by India’s best-selling SUV, the Tata Punch through to the Taisor, Toyota India’s strategic growth and most affordable SUV.
19 Apr 2025 | 708 Views | By Ajit Dalvi
Small is big in the Indian SUV market, if one goes by the sales of the compact SUV models. In FY2025, this extremely popular sub-segment of the utility vehicle industry clocked wholesales of 13,83,334 or 1.38 million units, up 10% YoY (FY2024: 12,55,224 units). This accounts for a near-50% share ...
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Small is big in the Indian SUV market, if one goes by the sales of the compact SUV models. In FY2025, this extremely popular sub-segment of the utility vehicle industry clocked wholesales of 13,83,334 or 1.38 million units, up 10% YoY (FY2024: 12,55,224 units). This accounts for a near-50% share of the record UV sales of 2.79 million units, and translates into every second UV sold in India being a compact (less than 4,000mm-long) model.
Of the nearly 100 UVs and 1,000-plus variants in the domestic market, compact SUVs account for 20 models and a humongous number of variants. Of these 20 models, 10 compact SUVs stand out for leading the charge in the segment.
Let’s take a closer look at India’s 10 best-selling compact SUVs in FY2025, from the Tata Punch to the Toyota Taisor.
No. 1 – Tata Punch: 196,572 units, up 15%
With 196,572 units and 15% growth, the Tata Punch, the No. 1 SUV in CY2024 when it sold 202,031 units, has won the No. 1 SUV title for the first time in a fiscal year since its launch in October 2021. It moves up two ranks, having been India’s third best-selling SUV in FY2024 (169,844 units) after the Tata Nexon and the Maruti Brezza.
The Punch, which is available with petrol, CNG and electric powertrains, has risen two ranks from a year ago when it was the third best-selling SUV after the Maruti Brezza and Tata Nexon. Since launch over three-and-a-half years ago, total sales of the Punch in the domestic market have crossed 550,000 units. In FY2025, Tata Motors sold a total of 553,585 passenger vehicles in FY2025, which means the Punch’s share was 35% compared to 30% in FY2024.
No. 2 – Maruti Brezza: 189,163 units, up 11%
The Maruti Brezza, which kicked off the compact SUV juggernaut all those many years ago, takes second place on the compact SUV podium with 189,163 units, up 11 percent (FY2024: 169,897 units).
The Brezza had missed out on the No. 1 SUV title in FY2024 by a whisker – just 2,032 units – to the Tata Nexon. The Brezza has, till date, sold a total of 1.24 million units in India since its launch.
No. 3 – Maruti Fronx: 166,216 units, up 23%
With 166,216 units, including a best-ever 21,461 units in February 2025, the Baleno-based Maruti Fronx has risen to third place in FY2025 compared to fourth rank a year ago (FY2024: 134,735 units). This is an additional 31,481 units, taking the Fronx’s cumulative sales to 300,951 units since its launch in April 2023. This makes the Fronx the first Nexa SUV to hit the 300,000 milestone, news of which Autocar Professional broke early in April 2025.
No. 4 – Tata Nexon: 163,088 units, down 5%
The Tata Nexon compact SUV, which was India’s best-selling SUV for three straight years in FY2024, FY2023 and FY2022, is clearly feeling the heat of the revved-up competition as well as from its own sibling, the Punch.
The Nexon has dropped three ranks in FY2025 to No. 4 with sales of 163,088 units, down 5% YoY, having sold 8,841 fewer units (FY2024: 171,929 units). With the launch of the Nexon CNG last September as well as the Nexon ICE model acing the Bharat NCAP crash test with a 5-star rating, it was expected that the model would recover market momentum but that didn’t happen. The Tata Nexon's cumulative sales since launch are over 820,000 units.
No. 5 – Hyundai Venue: 119,113 units, down 8%
The Hyundai Venue, the first compact SUV from Hyundai Motor India, is also in the negative sales territory. With 119,113 units, sales were down 8% YoY (FY2024: 128,897 units). Demand has been flagging for the Venue, particularly since the Hyundai Exter, its sibling compact SUV, rolled in. With the next-gen Venue, which will up the model’s desirability quotient, slated for launch only by end-2025 or early 2026, sales will most likely continue to be slow.
Demand for the Venue seems to have slowed down in the wake of the rollout of the Exter, Hyundai’s second compact SUV launched a year ago. The Exter has sold 49,065 units in the first seven months of FY2025. Launched in May 2019, the Venue has sold 660,350 units in India till end-March 2025.
No. 6 – Mahindra 3XO: 100,905 units, up 84%
The Mahindra 3XO, which is the facelifted version of the XUV300, has been one of the best performers in the SUV market per se. With 100,905 units sold, the 3XO has moved up two ranks in FY2025 to No. 6. A robust market performance translates into an additional 46,179 units sold over FY2024’s 54,726 units and a resultant 84% YoY increase in sales. This stellar market performance means the XUV 3XO’s share of M&M’s record SUV sales of 551,487 units jumped to 18% from 12% in FY2024.
No. 7 – Kia Sonet: 99,805 units, up 23%
With sales of 99,805 units, the Sonet clocked 23% YoY growth (FY2024: 81,384 units) and is Kia India’s best-selling product for the fiscal, ahead of the Seltos midsize SUV (72,618 units, down 28% YoY) and the Carens MPV (64,609 units, up 2% YoY). Launched in January 2024, the feature-laden Sonet has clocked cumulative sales of 412,866 units to date. The Sonet surpassed the 400,000 milestone in early February, news which Autocar Professional broke.
No. 8 – Hyundai Exter: 77,412 units, up 9%
The entry-SUV category within the sub-four-metre-SUV segment, which sees sales of around 20,000 units per month, continues to witness strong demand and the Exter’s aggressive pricing strategy has helped albeit sales have slowed down.
Launched in July 2023, the Exter, which is Hyundai’s second compact SUV after the Venue and the first Hyundai CNG model to get dual-cylinder technology in July 2024, sold 77,412 units in FY2025, up 9% YoY (FY2024: 71,299 units). This takes its cumulative sales total to 148,641 units.
No. 9 – Mahindra Thar 3-door: 47,000 units (estimated), down 28%
The three-door Mahindra Thar, which has a length of 3,985mm compared to the new Thar Roxx (4428mm length), has sold an estimated 47,000 units in FY2025, down 28% YoY (FY2024: 65,246 units). This decline can be attributed to the demand for the more mainstream five-door Thar Roxx, launched in September 2024.
No. 10 – Toyota Urban Cruiser Taisor: 32,378 units
The Toyota Urban Cruiser Taisor wraps up the Top 10 compact SUV chart with 32,378 units. Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM)’s strategic move to re-enter India’s booming compact SUV market has paid off in spades.
The youngest of the four rebadged models (Glanza, Hyryder, Rumion, Taisor) in TKM’s portfolio, the Urban Cruiser Taisor is also the most affordable Toyota SUV – and also the smallest – in India with an aggressive starting pricing of Rs 773,500 (ex-showroom) for the base E MT variant.
Launched on April 3, 2024, the Taisor has contributed to 10% of TKM’s record sales of 309,230 passenger vehicles and 12% to UV sales of 258,537 units in FY2025. It is the third highest-selling Maruti-rebadged model for the company after the Hyryder midsize SUV and the Glanza hatchback.
KIA SYROS AND SKODA KYLAQ SELL 26,191 UNITS IN Q4 FY2025
Two new recently launched compact SUVs, whose sales began in January 2025, are expected to be among the newsmakers in the SUV industry in FY2026.
The Kia Syros has sold 15,986 units in the January-March 2025 period and contributed 6% to Kia India’s sales of 255,207 UVs/PVs in FY2025, up 4% YoY. And the Skoda Kylaq, which has sold 10,205 units between January and March 2025, accounts for a 23% share of Skoda Auto’s FY2025 sales of 44,868 passenger vehicles (up 1% YoY).
At 26,191 units in the fourth quarter of FY2025, combined sales of the Kia Syros and the Skoda Kylaq give them a 2% share of the record 1.38 million compact SUVs sold in FY2025.
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