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Saturday, May 2, 2020

BEST SELLING UV’S OF 2019

    

What scooters are to the overall two-wheeler market is what utility vehicles (UVs) are to the passenger vehicle market. And like poor sales of scooters (-0.27 percent) pulled down the two-wheeler market in FY2019, UVs too (+2 percent) impacted overall PV numbers which ended in single-digit growth of 2.7 percent. Scarcely a year ago, growth for both scooters and UVs was accelerating hard at 20 percent but got upended by the sharp slowdown in the second half of FY2019. Although the growth might have varied substantially, the sales performance of some of the key UV models offered by a few prominent OEMs in the country has still remained consistent. Let’s take a closer look at these.

The car also achieved the landmark milestone of surpassing sales of 4 lakh units in February this year – less than three years into its launch in India. While strong competition was felt from the Tata Nexon and Ford’s EcoSport, what helped the compact SUV’s case is the introduction of a facelift along with an AMT transmission option in May 2018. Interestingly, the sales gap between the Brezza and the Creta in FY2018 was 41,326 units. In FY2019, the gap has reduced to 33,580. Still a robust lead for the Brezza, but with the Creta holding on to a better growth rate, there could a closer battle for the title in the year to come. At No. 3 the Mahindra Bolero maintained its position but faced a slight slump in performance which could be attributed to the tough NBFC situation impacting the rural markets. The Bolero sold 84,144 units (FY2018: 85,368 / -0.14 percent).
 
Given that the norm of mandatory fitment of ABS in all cars sold in the country has come into effect from April 1, the Bolero now comes with ABS as standard. Moreover, Mahindra has been rumoured to be working on a major facelift of this rugged UV in order to meet new mandatory crash regulations slated to get implemented by October 2019. The model is expected to be rolled out around the same time. Interestingly both the MPVs are the top choices in their respective price categories which remain widely distinct.


While the Ertiga is a more approachable offering by Maruti in the sub-Rs 10 lakh MPV segment, the Innova caters to a more discerning buyer looking for a robust seven-seater, and also is a huge hit among fleet operators for the same fact. Maruti brought in the latest second-generation Ertiga in November 2018, and the new car has grown in its appeal by leaps and bounds – in the very least winning Car of the Year at the 2019 Autocar Awards. Most OEMs are plotting an assault on the market with a slew of new products in the pipeline. The action is going to get even hotter. At the beginning of FY2019, it was felt that this fiscal would play witness to UV sales crossing the million-unit sales mark after having hit 9,22,322 unit sales in FY2018; but it was not to be