Top Sub 4m SUV Sales Nov 2020 – Sonet, Venue Beats Brezza, Nexon

Vitara Brezza’a fall in sales could be directly attributed to the inclusion of its rebadged twin Urban Cruiser

Needless to repeat but compact SUVs, especially sub-4 metre compact SUVs have been raging on the market for quite some time now. The feel and reload presence of an SUV yet the compactness and affordability of a premium hatchback have caught the eyes of Indian consumers.

This segment keeps on growing both in terms of sales volumes and number of offerings. The most recent launch being Nissan Magnite, however, it is yet to reach its first customers. With a total of 44,390 units of compact SUVs sold last month, this space grew by 43 percent against last year’s 30,902 units in November.

Kia Sonet, Hyundai Venue Lead Charge

One of the new entrants Kia Sonet has now become the best-selling sub-4 metre compact SUV in India. It registered sales of 11,417 units in November this year and was the only one to surpass the 10,000-mark.

Sonet was followed by its cousin Hyundai Venue which recorded sales of 9,265 units last month against 9,665 units in November 2019. This led to a marginal dip in sales by 4 percent. Together, Sonet and Venue have a market share of 46.6% in the segment. Meaning, almost ever 2ng car sold in the Sub 4m SUV segment in Nov 2020, was either a Kia Sonet or a Hyundai Venue.

Maruti Vitara Brezza sales fall

Interestingly, Maruti Vitara Brezza, which was the leading car in this segment just a couple of months ago, witnessed a significant decline in sales in comparison to November last year. Last month it sold 7,838 units of the compact SUV as compared to 12,033 units sold in November 2019.

This can be due to entry of new products in this segment including its own twin Toyota Urban Cruiser which is essentially a Vitara Brezza sporting a Toyota badge. 2,832 units of Toyota’s version of Brezza were sold last month as it occupied the sixth spot.

Tata Nexon, Mahindra XUV300 sell good volumes

Third and fourth spots were occupied by Indian manufacturers with Tata Nexon and Mahindra XUV300 respectively. Both compact SUVs witnessed significant YoY growths. Nexon registered sales of 6,021 units whereas XUV300 raked in 4,458 units for Mahindra in November this year. This resulted in massive growths of 75 percent and 100 percent respectively.

It is also to be noted that XUV300 and Nexon are the only 5 star rated cars in the segment, as far as safety is concerned. It seems that safety rating is having a positive effect on sales figures, but is still not enough to become best-selling car in segment.

Lagging at the bottom of the list were Ford EcoSport and Honda WR-V. The car which started this segment in India back in 2012 is now on decline since it has been on sale for eight years now without any major updates. Ford sold 1,590 units of EcoSport last month in comparison to 2,822 units sold in November 2019. This led to YoY degrowth of 41 percent. WR-V, on the other hand, registered sales of only 958 units last month.

With the launch of Magnite now, that too at a disruptive starting price of just Rs 4.99 lakh we can expect a lot to change in the subcompact SUV space in the coming time. There is also Renault Kiger to follow in a few months time which is also expected to be priced extremely competitively.