With the recent craze for SUVs in the Indian automotive market, sales of other segments of passenger vehicles have taken a hit over the past few years. The Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV) segment is one such segment that has been affected. Still, MPVs prove to be full of utility for a large Indian consumer base.
In December 2020, MUV / MPV market in India stood at 25,481 units. In comparison, this figure stood at 25,236 units in December 2019 and 26,667 units in November 2019. This meant a marginal growth in YoY sales at 0.97 percent and slight degrowth in MoM sales at 4.45 percent.
MPV sales chart for December 2020 was topped by Maruti Suzuki Ertiga with 9,177 units. During the same month in 2019, Maruti sold 6,650 units of its MPV which translates to YoY growth of 38 percent. However, its MoM figures dropped by 3.98 percent as the company sold 9,557 units of Ertiga in November 2020.
Ertiga was followed by Mahindra Bolero at the second spot with 5,050 units dispatched to dealerships. In comparison, Mahindra sold 5,661 units in December 2019 and 6,055 units in November 2020. This meant a decline in YoY as well as MoM sales by 10.79 percent and 16.60 percent.
Bolero was closely followed by Renault Triber at third spot with 4,073 units of the compact MPV sold last month. In the month prior to this, the French carmaker sold 4,809 units of Triber while in December 2019, it sold 5,631 units of the MPV. MoM figures grew by 3.41 percent whereas YoY sales dipped by 11.69 percent.
Fourth and fifth spots were taken by Maruti XL6 and Toyota Innova. The Ertiga twin raked 3,088 units for Maruti in December 2020. In the previous month, this number stood at 3,388 units and in December 20109 it stood at 2,521 units. This meant a decline in MoM sales by 8.85 percent and growth in YoY sales by 22.49.
Toyota, on the other hand, sold 2,765 units of Innova last month and 3,414 units in December 2019. This means an increase in MoM sales by 26.14 percent and a decline in YoY sales by 19 percent.
Others in this list include Kia Carnival (251 units), Mahindra Marazzo (162 units), Toyota Vellfire (15 units) and Datsun Go+ (0 units). All these products witnessed a decline in both YoY as well as Mo sales except Carnival and Vellfire which do not have any numbers to show for YoY sales since they were launched in 2020 itself. In the coming months, we might be able to see more MPVs on offer from manufacturers like Kia, Hyundai and Tata Motors.