Sub 4 meter SUVs have been steadily growing in importance. Following our earlier report on sub 4 meter SUVs sold in March 2024, the last month of the fiscal, we now assess sales of the top 5 in this segment and their performance over the entire FY24 period. When taking a look at the top selling sub 4 meter SUVs – Tata Nexon/EV, Maruti Brezza, Hyundai Venue, Kia Sonet and Mahindra XUV300, we find that not only were the Nexon and Brezza the two best sellers, but also showed off consistent sales over the past 12 months. Venue, Sonet and XUV300 have displayed some ups and downs especially over the last two months of the fiscal.
Tata Motors had the Nexon along with its electric counterpart at the top of this list. Sales in the FY24 period stood at 1,71,697 units, showing off stable sales across each month. Starting off with 15,002 units in April 2023, sales reached 43,252 units in the Q1 period. However, lower sales in August 2023 saw a dip in sales to 35,723 units in Q2 FY2023-24 to a total tally of 78,975 units in H1 period.
Averaging at around 13,400 units per month, the Nexon along with its electric offering reached 47,087 unit sales in Q3 FY2023-24 but dipped marginally to end the Q4 FY 23-24 with 45,635 unit sales and H1 FY 23-24 with 92,722 units sold. It is the major update that the Nexon lineup received in September that brought in these increased sales as buyers were drawn towards the all new design and feature updates.
Maruti Suzuki Brezza, a strong seller in this space ever since it was first launched in 2016, is regaled for its attractive combination of premium interiors, features and cabin comforts. It ended its FY23-24 sales just 2,250 units lower than that seen by Tata Nexon at 1,69,447 units. Steady sales were seen across each month of the past financial year with each month’s sales well above the 10,000 unit mark to end Q1 FY23-24 with 35,362 units and Q2 FY 23-24 with 46,116 unit sales. Brezza sales which stood at 81,478 units in H1 FY23-24 grew to 87,969 units in H2 FY23-24.
Hyundai Venue, the third best-selling sub 4m SUV, attracted 1,28,897 buyers in FY24. These are the combined sales of both Hyundai Venue and Venue N Line. While the Venue set off the year with steady sales well above the 10,000 unit mark, the last two months of the financial year saw its sales slip. H1 FY 23-24 saw a total of 65,375 units while H2 FY23-24 sales stood at 63,522 units. The introduction of ADAS in the Hyundai Venue/N Line in September 2023, making it the first in its segment to receive this feature, set off increased sales.
Kia Sonet is the company’s 2nd best-selling model after the Seltos and its only offering in the sub 4 meter SUV space. Launched in September 2020, Kia Sonet has recently amassed 3 lakh unit sales in 42 months of launch. It ended FY24 with a total of 81,384 units. The first 3 months of this fiscal saw steady sales to end Q1 23-24 with 25,717 units but then sales dipped to end Q2 23-24 with only 13,349 unit sales. Sales of just 10 units in December 2023 brought down Q3 sales to 12,936 units but Sonet facelift launched in December 2023 with new segment first features took up sales in the last 3 months of the fiscal Q4 FY23-24 sales to 29,382 units to end H2 FY23-24 with 42,318 unit sales.
At No. 5 on the list of best-selling sub 4 meter SUVs was Mahindra XUV300 with 53,962 units sold in FY24 period averaging at around 4,400 units per month. Falling sales in the last 2 months of the fiscal could be on account of the company set to introduce the new XUV300 facelift called the 3XO on 29th April 2024.
XUV300 sales in the Q1 period of the past fiscal stood at 15,281 units but dipped to 14,486 units in Q2 FY 23-24 to end H1 FY23-23 with 29,767 unit sales. However, sales fell to 24,195 units in the H2 FY23-24 period as buyers await the facelift XUV3XO that promises to come in with several updated features though it will continue to be powered by the same engine lineup.