SUV Cars in India

SUV stands for Sport Utility Vehicle – a car classification that defines the big powerful vehicles with four-wheel drive that can be taken off-road. While the terms SUV means larger vehicles or Jeep-like cars, nowadays it can refer to smaller cars or crossovers that don’t even have four-wheel drive along with minimal capability of going off-road.

It is worth noting that the usage of the terms SUV may vary upon the countries. In some foreign markets, an SUV must be developed on a light truck chassis. However, many others define any vehicles with off-road design and features, high ground clearance to be an SUV. For the initiated, the Jeep Cherokee (XJ) was introduced in 1984 as the first true SUV in the world. It got a ladder-frame integrated body, thus making it a unibody SUV.

As for India, the SUV (Sport Utility Vehicle) is a passenger vehicle that is designed to go over rough surfaces. Be it on the roads or off it, SUVs can gulp everything that one may throw at it.

A normal SUV can accommodate 5-7 people depending on the length of the vehicles. The SUV cars in India can be classified into five segments, namely sub-compact SUV, compact SUV, mid-size SUV, large-size SUV and full-size SUV.

Sub-compact SUVs

Several years down the line, the Ford EcoSport was introduced in our country and was well-received by the Indian buyers. At that time, the Ford EcoSport was one of its kind that paved the way for the sub-4-metre compact SUV segment – one of the most competitive segments in the domestic auto industry. All SUVs with the length of under 4 metres are slotted into this segment. Some popular subcompact SUVs in India are Maruti Vitara Brezza, Hyundai Venue, Kia Sonet, Tata Nexon, Mahindra XUV300, Ford EcoSport, Renault Kiger, Nissan Magnite Compact SUV, etc.

Ford EcoSport

Ford EcoSport was one of its kind that paved the way for the sub-4-metre compact SUV segment

Compact SUVs

On top of the small SUVs are the compact SUVs segment which is also storming the Indian market with some major players like Kia Seltos, Hyundai Creta, MG Hector, etc. Compact SUVs often provide the best of both worlds – the feel of a large SUV in compact design. The compact SUV is a class of small SUVs that is larger than mini-SUVs yet smaller than mid-size ones. The overall length of those cars are often more than 4 metre mark.

Kia Seltos

Compact SUVs often provide the best of both worlds – the feel of a large SUV in compact design.

Mid-size SUVs

The segment of mid-size SUVs bridges the gap between compact and full-size SUVs in the range. As it is larger than a compact SUV, the mid-size SUV offers more seating space with more capabilities on the trips. The average mid-size SUV in India can haul 5-8 occupants.

Some of the mid-size SUVs can be available with a 4x4 drivetrain or not. SUVs that fall under this family include the Mahindra XUV500, Tata Harrier or MG Hector Plus, etc.

Mahindra XUV500

Some of the mid-size SUVs can be available with a 4x4 drivetrain or not.

Large-size SUVs

If you are more interested in large and bulky SUVs, then the large-size SUV segment emerges. Of the compact SUVs has compactness as its Achilles heel, the large-size SUVs handle it with ease.

Large SUVs need brawny engines to drive their heavy weight. Automatic transmission will be preferred to avoid the hassle of shifting the gears. Large-size SUVs are often 7-seater SUVs in India and command premium prices. Some well-known large-size SUVs in India can be Ford Endeavour, Toyota Fortuner and Honda CR-V, etc.

Toyota Fortuner

If you are more interested in large and bulky SUVs, then the large-size SUV segment emerges

Full-size SUVs

The full-size SUVs have the largest size of the SUVs and they are commonly produced with extra room, extra power and extra luxury in mind. Full-size SUVs are normally sold with decent price tags. A few popular fully-grown SUVs in India are Toyota Land Cruiser or BMW X7, Mercedes-Benz GLS among others.

BMW X7

They are commonly produced with extra room, extra power and extra luxury in mind

Advantages of owning an SUV instead of hatchback/sedan

In recent times, SUVs have been selling like hot cakes in India. SUV cars become so popular that they even outperformed the sedan and hatchback counterparts, which previously stayed as the market’s forte. So what makes the SUVs more appealing?.

Gone are the days when people thought of SUVs as luxury drives for which they could never afford. Many new-age car buyers opt for SUVs over sedans and hatchbacks for many good reasons such as high level of utility, strong performance and good looks.

Disadvantages of owning an SUV

Along with the benefits, you will surely have to compromise a couple of things to own an SUV. What are they?

With the great number of SUVs going on sale in India, the prices of SUV cars may vary across the segment. You can easily find good SUV cars under 10 lakh while some others can cost you an arm and a leg at the same time. On average, with a roughly Rs 12 – 15 lakh budget, you can be an SUV owner surely.

At the moment, the Renault Kiger which comes from the subcompact SUV segment is the cheapest SUV car in India with the price starting from Rs 5.45 lakh*. Whereas the most expensive SUV car title belongs to the Rolls Royce Cullinan - one of the best luxury SUVs in India that is on sale at the price of Rs 6.95 crore*.

The range of Hyundai SUVs include four models including the Hyundai Venue, Hyundai Creta, Hyundai Tucson and Hyundai Kona Electric with the prices ranging from Rs 6.86 – 23.94 lakh*.

The prices of Tata SUV start from Rs 7.09 – 21.45 lakh. The most affordable SUV from Tata is the Tata Nexon (Rs 7.09 – 12.79 lakh*) while the new Tata Safari (Rs 14.69 – 21.45 lakh*) is the most expensive offering.

Kia has just two players in the SUV segment – the Kia Sonet and Kia Seltos with the prices of Rs 6.79 – 13.19 lakh* and Rs 9.89 – 17.45 lakh*, respectively.

Mahindra currently has six models going on sale in the SUV department. The cheapest Mahindra SUV is the XUV300 that can be bought with the price tags of Rs 7.95 – 12.70 lakh*, making it one of the best SUVs under 10 lakhs. Mahindra Alturas G4 is the highest-priced Mahindra SUV car with the prices of Rs 28.73 – 31.73 lakh*.

*Note: All prices are ex-showroom

Although 2020 was a challenging year for the Indian auto market, the SUV segment saw the rising heat in the latter half of the year. The list of top best selling SUVs in India 2020 has been released with the new Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos takes the top honours.

While the Hyundai Creta registers as the highest-selling SUV car in India with 96,989 units sold in CY2020, the Kia Seltos found 96,932 takers in the same period. The Maruti Vitara Brezza was the third best-selling SUV in India with 83,666 sales units, followed by the Hyundai Venue, Mahindra Bolero, Tata Nexon and Kia Sonet, respectively.

• Rank1
• ModelHyundai Creta
• CY202096,989
• CY201999,736
• Growth (%)-2.8

• Rank2
• ModelKia Seltos
• CY202096,932
• CY201945,494
• Growth (%)113.1

• Rank3
• ModelMaruti Vitara Brezza
• CY202083,666
• CY20191,27,094
• Growth (%)-34.2

• Rank4
• ModelHyundai Venue
• CY202082,428
• CY201970,443
• Growth (%)17.0

• Rank5
• ModelMahindra Bolero
• CY202055,433
• CY201969,656
• Growth (%)-20.4

• Rank6
• ModelTata Nexon
• CY202048,842
• CY201949,312
• Growth (%)-10

• Rank7
• ModelKia Sonet
• CY202038,363
• CY20190
• Growth (%)-/-

• Rank8
• ModelMahindra XUV300
• CY202032,197
• CY201940,197
• Growth (%)-19.9

• Rank9
• ModelMahindra Scorpio
• CY202031,240
• CY201946,725
• Growth (%)-33.1

• Rank10
• ModelFord EcoSport
• CY202027,181
• CY201939,989
• Growth (%)-32.0

Although the competition in the SUV segment is high, it couldn’t stop the auto brands from plunging into this bandwagon. Here’s a look at the best-selling SUV brands in India 2020 and except for Kia Motors, the other names are so familiar.

Hyundai

It’s the country’s second-largest carmaker Hyundai that sold the highest number of SUVs in 2020. Hyundai SUVs have dominated the segment’s sales chart with over 1.8 lakh units sold last year. Interestingly, the 2020 Hyundai Creta contributed over 50% to the brand’s total sales, followed by the Hyundai Venue sub-compact SUV sibling.

Hyundai Creta

Contributed over 50% to the brand's total sales

Hyundai Venue

Was the second largest-selling Hyundai car in Indian in 2020.

Kia Motors

Be it a newcomer, Kia made us awestruck by how the company established a good reputation in the SUV space. With only two Kia SUVs going on sale, it’s brilliant that the brand was the second largest-selling SUV brand in our country last year.

Mahindra

Mahindra & Mahindra is well-known for its range of competent off-road focused utility vehicles. With the total sales figure of 1,30,000 units, Mahindra comes third in the list of best-selling SUV makers in India in 2020 and will introduce new upcoming Mahindra SUVs to compete with other brands in the SUV market.

Maruti Suzuki

Maruti Suzuki mainly focuses on the small cars segment so no wonder, it didn’t take the top spot on the ranking of highest-selling SUV brands. However, with 99,000 units registered in the year of 2020, Maruti Suzuki humbly comes at fourth in the list. The newly-updated Maruti Vitara Brezza was also the top-selling subcompact SUV in India in 2020.

Tata Motors

Tata witnessed a significant growth in terms of sales last year. The popular Tata SUVs like Tata Nexon, Tata Harrier help the brand gain good traction in the Indian market. In 2020, Tata registered 63,000 units of SUV cars in India, which makes it one of the best-selling SUV brands in India 2020. The brand will launch more upcoming Tata SUVs in the market in the next 24 months.

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