The Indian automobile sector may be in the midst of a struggle to recover previously speedy rates of sales growth, but even as passenger vehicle (PV) sales as a segment have contracted severely over the past month, utility vehicles (UVs) have performed consistently better than other PV sub-segments.
Sample this. Festive season sales this October made the month the first since November 2018 when the PV segment recorded positive sales growth coming in a paltry 0.28 per cent year-on-year during the month. The same period saw UV sales, according to SIAM data, soar by a whopping 22.22 per cent.
A perusal of SIAM’s sales data over the past year only buttresses the assertion that the UV range is fast becoming the most popular passenger vehicle segment in the Indian market.
In fact, new entrants like Kia Motors’ Seltos and MG Motor’s Hector, both SUVs, have been some of the most sold automobiles in the Indian market during the past year’s months of contracting sales.
According to SIAM data, UV sales have performed far better than the overall passenger vehicle segment in every month since December 2018.
The trend has resulted in UVs sharply increasing their share of the overall PV segment in the Indian market, going from comprising just over 26 per cent of the overall segment in November 2018 to a whopping 58 per cent of the segment in October 2019. “It is impressive that this increase has come amidst an overall contraction in demand,” an auto analyst said.