Maruti, Hyundai Look To Retain Pole Position In SUV Market

The share of SUVs in the passenger vehicle market is seen increasing; petrol variants see good demand

- G Balachander

The SUV race is heating up in the passenger vehicle (PV) market with several new players entering the field.

The SUV market saw the entry of players such as Kia Motors and MG Motors recently. This year alone, there will be 23 new launches, of which 14 will be SUVs.

The share of SUVs in the PV market was about 14 per cent five years ago (2014-15). After the launch of Maruti Brezza (March 2016), the total size of the SUV market started moving northwards. It is also the only segment that has grown this year.

There are three categories in play today — entry SUVs, ie, the sub-4-metre (Ford EcoSport, Hyundai Venue, Maruti Brezza, Mahindra XUV300, Tata Nexon, etc). This category has the highest volumes of about 50 per cent.

The mid-SUV segment is almost equal in size to the entry SUVs. Here the champions are Hyundai Creta, Renault Duster, Kia Seltos, and MG Hector, among others. In the upper SUVs, there are Ford Endeavour, Toyota Fortuner and Land Cruiser Prado and Skoda Kodiaq.

In the intensely competitive SUV market, Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai seek to retain their dominance. UV market leader Maruti’s market share has dropped to 25 per cent from 28 per cent last year. This is the category where diesel penetration is high, particularly in the high-end SUVs.

Shift to petrol