Indian car market has been dominated by the hatchback segment for a long time now. And this choice of consumers is quite understandable as hatchbacks are compact, affordable, fuel efficient and suitable to driving conditions in the country. Also, the dominance of this segment can be quantified by naming the top two companies in the passenger car market, Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai, which generate enormous revenues from their hatchback models. However, there is another segment that is slowly and steadily catching the attention of a lot of buyers is that of Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs). Industry experts believe that in the modern day scenario it is quite advisable for a buyer to purchase an SUV. A utility vehicle is huge, built with solidarity, powerful, spacious and comes with a definite road presence.
In earlier times, owning an SUV was considered to be something of a luxury for people in India. The overall appearance of an SUV exuded a sense of class, which determines the economic status of an individual. However, scenarios have changed now and makers of SUVs have realised the importance of targeting the price sensitive buyers of the Indian car market. This sort of approach has given the rise to the compact SUV segment, which has achieved a lot of success in recent times.
Now, to understand the reason behind the success of compact SUV segment, one needs to analyse its genesis. As times have progressed, the standard of living and income levels of people have also become better. Thereby, the level of affordability in terms of purchasing cars have also increased among Indian buyers. People now consider other things besides the price and fuel economy of a vehicle while making a buying decision. The USP of a compact SUV is that it offers the luxury of a sedan and the performance of a utility vehicle. Thereby, anyone owning a compact SUV can be considered as a wise buyer. However, the approach of auto makers is the biggest reason for the success of this particular segment. This trend started with the launch of the Renault Duster, which potentially turned around the fortunes for its manufacturer. Seeing the popularity of Duster, American giant Ford made a great move by introducing the EcoSport, which amassed as many as 30000 booking in a span of just around 17 days.
Earlier, the non Indian car makers used to import SUVs from other countries, be it through the Completely Built Unit (CBU) or the Completely Knocked Down (CKD) route. This automatically forced them to keep the price of vehicles high to protect their profit margins. Now, a lot of firms are planning to develop and produce their cars in India, which helps them to price products aggressively. Interestingly, the aggressive pricing strategy has provided the likes of Ford EcoSport and Renault Duster a favourite among its buyers in India. Now, other car makers are following this suit and gearing up to launch their respective compact SUVs in the Indian auto market.
For people who can afford, a premium SUV can be considered as a good choice as a vehicle. Not only does it score high in terms of space, power and comfort, a premium SUV has the ability to withstand tough weather and terrain conditions for a superior drive quality. Also, the safety of a utility vehicle is unparalleled, which is the reason why it can be driven on the highway without any hassles. Another notable thing about SUVs is the kind of class they represent, which influences people to buy them as status symbols. If one were to go to top cities like Mumbai, New Delhi, Chandigarh and Bengaluru, they would easily find SUVs from top notch brands like Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW.
To sum things up, even though the hatchback segment sits pretty at the top of Indian car market, SUVs have managed to create a niche among customers from all income levels. Nowadays, it is not only the rich who purchase an SUV but the working class is buying it as well. It must be noted that the success of compact SUV segment has given companies a go ahead to do well in the Indian car market.
