INDIA SALES: Top 5 Utility Vehicles in May 2016

New models sweep India UV sales chart in May 2016

The slew of fresh launches and change of consumer preference towards more feature-laden compact SUVs and crossovers have provided a healthy fillip to utility vehicle (UV) sales in India as they remained the growth drivers for the overall passenger vehicle segment in May 2016.

UV sales rose 35.87% during May 2016 to 58,793 units and stood at a cumulative 120,963 units during the first two months of this fiscal, representing a growth of almost 40%. Thanks to the stellar performance of UVs in 2016-17 thus far, the market share for the segment in overall passenger vehicle (PV) sales also rose to 25.53% from 19.90% in the same period a year ago.

With the rising demand for new models, the competition in the Top 5 list has heated up and in May 2016 is populated by four new models. Ageing warhorse Mahindra Bolero, in its new avatar, continues to soldier on and was fifth in the best-selling UV list. 

May 2016 saw the return of the Toyota Innova, in its latest Crysta avatar, as the leader in the UV segment which topped the table with sales of 7,259 units. Thanks to the overwhelming response to the new model, the diesel-ban hit Toyota Kirloskar Motor managed to see a turnaround as it reported sales growth in May after many consecutive months of decline. The company has bagged more than 20,000 bookings for the Crysta and is betting big on the MPV to boost its sales in the future as well.

Maruti Suzuki India’s first ever compact SUV, the Vitara Brezza, came in at a close second with sales of 7,193 units in May. The much-in-demand sub-four-metre vehicle is acting as a buffer to slowing sales of the Alto, Wagon R and Swift hatchbacks. In May, the carmaker’s utility vehicle segment grew 144.2% to 13,596 units as compared to 5,567 units in May 2015, mainly due to the surging demand for the Vitara Brezza, which currently commands a waiting period of 7-9 months.

Hyundai Motor India’s Creta lost its title of being the most sold SUV in the country to the Maruti Vitara Brezza, being pipped by 136 units. The Creta, which sold 7,057 units in May 2016, has been a large volume driver for Hyundai and helped the Korean carmaker register a jump of over 10% in its UV market share in 2015-16.

Mahindra & Mahindra’s KUV100 drove past its sibling Bolero to take up the fourth spot on the list. With sales of 4,446 units during the month, it also became M&M’s most sold vehicle in May overtaking the Scorpio, TUV100 and XUV500 as well. The Bolero, with its ageing design and sombre demand, due to the rural market slowdown, managed sales of 4,419 units.

With more launches in the UV segment planned from the stables of Hyundai Motor India and Tata Motors later this year and OEMs looking at introducing petrol variants for their best-sellers due to the uncertainty surrounding diesel in India, the segment is likely to continue on a high growth trajectory for the remainder of this fiscal. Stay tuned to Autocar Professional for further updates on the sales front.

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