New entrants such as Tata Safari and MG Hector Plus helped the segment to boost the sales figures
SUV segment has been booming in India for a couple of years now. Many consumers in recent years have shifted from the plush ride of a sedan or the compactness of a hatchback to the bigger road presence of an SUV. Especially the compact and mid-size SUV segments have been raging hot in the Indian market with plenty of options on offer.
Korean Cousins on top
Speaking of mid-size SUVs, February 2021 was not very different from other months as a decent number of cars from this space were dispatched to dealerships across the country. Among the top ten mid-size SUVs sold in India last month, Hyundai Creta led the chart with a sales volume of 12,428 units.
During the same month last year, the Korean auto giant sold merely 700 units of the SUV. This resulted in a massive YoY growth of 1675 percent. Since then, Creta has received a major generation upgrade which has helped it ramp up its sales volume with more features and better performance on offer.
It was followed by its cousin Kia Seltos with a monthly sales volume of 8,305 units in February 2021. In comparison, Kia had dispatched 14,024 units of Seltos last year in February, thus resulting in a decline in YoY sales by 40.7 percent.
Hector, S-Cross, Harrier get a push
MG Hector witnessed an impressive YoY growth of 200 percent last month with sales of 3,662 units. The fourth spot was taken by Mahindra Scorpio which raked in sales of 3,532 units last month. With 1,505 units of Scorpio sold in February 2020, it registered a YoY growth of 134.6 percent.
Maruti S-Cross took the fifth spot with 2,505 units last month. The Indo-Japanese carmaker did not sell any unit of the crossover during the same period last year as it took it off the shelves along with the rest of the diesel models. It later made its re-appearance later that year with a 1.5-litre petrol engine.
The sixth spot was occupied by Tata Harrier with sales of 2,030 units in February 2021. During the same period last month, Tata Motors sold only 641 units of the SUV thereby recording YoY growth of 216.6 percent.
Safari makes good first impression
Harrier was followed by its larger sibling Safari which was recently launched last month. A total of 1,707 units of Safari made it to dealerships. Safari was trailed by Jeep Compass which registered a sales volume of 1,103 units. FCA sold 666 units of the premium SUV in February last year, therefore, witnessing YoY growth of 65.6 percent. It is to be noted that Compass received a facelift earlier this year.
Mahindra XUV500 took the ninth spot with sales of 829 units last month. The crossover-SUV witnessed YoY growth of 141 percent since Mahindra was able to sell just 344 units of it in February last year. A new generation model of XUV500 is on its way later this year. The SUV which kickstarted the segment back in 2013 was lagging at the tenth place. Renault was able to sell only 337 units of Duster last month as compared to 642 units during the same month last year. It witnessed a YoY decline in sales by 47.5 percent.
