The Indian automobile industry is posting a strong double-digit growth – over 30 percent – thanks to the strong sales of SUVs and MPVs. The sales in these segments have crossed the 10 lakh-unit mark for the third consecutive year, and in FY2023 (April 2022-March 2023), this number has come up within the first seven months of the fiscal year.
The top five models who have had record sales since April this year are Tata Nexon, Hyundai Creta, Maruti Suzuki Ertiga, Tata Punch and Maruti Suzuki Brezza.
SUV, MPV sales: interesting takeaways
The Tata Nexon has the highest sales not just in November 2022 (15,871 units), but in the April-November 2022 period as well (1,15,835 units). The Nexon, which is available in petrol, diesel and electric, is India’s bestselling UV having dethroned the Hyundai Creta in FY2022.
The midsize Creta sold 13,321 units last month, with a cumulative 1,00,683 units sold in the April-November period. The popular Maruti Suzuki Ertiga MPV beat the Creta to take second place in the monthly rankings with 13,818 units sold, however, it ranks third when it comes to cumulative sales between Aprul and November with 90,197 units.
The Tata Punch remains a strong performer with 12,131 units sold in November and 89,164 units sold in the April-November period. In fifth place is the Maruti Suzuki Brezza, with 11,324 units in November and cumulative sales of 88,092 units.
| Top 5 SUVs, MPVs in India | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Model | November 2022 sales | Model | April-November 2022 sales |
| Tata Nexon | 15,871 units | Tata Nexon | 1,15,835 units |
| Maruti Ertiga | 13,818 units | Hyundai Creta | 1,00,683 units |
| Hyundai Creta | 13,321 units | Maruti Ertiga | 90,157 units |
| Tata Punch | 12,131 units | Tata Punch | 89,164 units |
| Maruti Brezza | 11,324 units | Maruti Brezza | 88,092 units |
SUV, MPV sales: new highs
The Tata Nexon, at 1,15,835 units already, is just 8,295 units shy of its previous best of 1,24,130 units in FY2022. The Hyundai Creta, on the other hand, is just 23,617 units away from its record 1,24,300 units that it sold in FY2019. The Maruti Suzuki Ertiga, with 90,157 units sold between April-November 2022, is 26,993 units away from its FY2022 record of 1,17,150 units. The Maruti Suzuki Brezza, with 88,092 units, is 69,788 units away from the 1,57,880 units it sold in FY2019 (all of them diesel-powered).
The Tata Punch, launched just last October, has cumulative sales of 1,41,880 units, which means it has averaged 19,134 units a month. Not only is the Punch a regular in the Top 5 UV chart, but it has already gone ahead of many well-established models.
Top 5 pack 3 million units and counting
Further number-crunching of India’s five bestselling UVs in the ongoing fiscal reveals that their cumulative sales have gone past the 30-lakh mark: 30,55,484 units.
Three of these models have crossed the 8,00,000 sales milestone in the domestic market in the past four months – the Ertiga in August 2022 (10 years and 5 months since launch), the Brezza in September 2022 (79 months since launch), and the Creta in November 2022 (89 months since launch). Given their similar volumes, this trio is very close when it comes to their contribution to the 3.05 million-unit sales: Ertiga has 27.53 percent, the Brezza 27.08 percent and the Creta 26.60 percent.
| Cumulative sales of India's top 5 SUVs, MPVs | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal | Maruti Ertiga | Maruti Brezza | Hyundai Creta | Tata Nexon | Tata Punch |
| March 2012 | 1,117 | - | - | - | |
| FY 2013 | 76,375 | - | - | - | |
| FY 2014 | 59,822 | - | - | - | |
| FY 2015 | 62,230 | - | - | - | |
| FY 2016 | 60,452 | 5,563 | 63,836 | - | |
| FY 2017 | 63,527 | 1,08,640 | 96,899 | - | |
| FY 2018 | 66,141 | 1,48,462 | 1,07,136 | 27,547 | |
| FY 2019 | 65,263 | 1,57,880 | 1,24,300 | 55,008 | |
| FY 2020 | 90,543 | 1,10,641 | 82,074 | 43,260 | |
| FY 2021 | 88,571 | 94,635 | 1,20,035 | 65,757 | |
| FY 2022 | 1,17,150 | 1,13,751 | 1,18,092 | 1,24,130 | 52,716 |
| FY 2023 | 90,157 | 88,091 | 1,00,683 | 1,15,835 | 89,164 |
| Total | 8,41,348 | 8,27,664 | 8,13,055 | 4,31,537 | 1,41,880 |
The two Tata Motors SUVs – Nexon and Punch – together account for 18.76 percent of the cumulative top five UV sales, very commendable considering the Nexon rolled out only in FY2018 and the Punch in FY2022.
Given the huge demand for compact SUVs, it’s not surprising that three models – Brezza, Nexon and Punch – belong to this sub-segment, while the Creta and Ertiga remain hugely popular in the midsize and MPV categories, respectively.
With four months left to go in the fiscal year, these top five should easily maintain their status in FY2023, albeit their individual rankings might change. Of course, it also depends on market availability as the chip supply woes keep rearing their head.
Hormazd Sorabjee
Anurag Chaturvedi
