Pune: Sales of sports utility vehicles or SUVs surged last month as top Indian carmakers dispatched more SUVs to dealers to cash in on festive demand in October, company data showed on Friday.
This trend highlighted car buyers’ increasing preference for larger and premium cars with over Rs 10 lakh tab.
Maruti Suzuki, India’s biggest car maker, posted a 19.4 per cent rise in SUV sales in October to hit a record high at 70,644 units, up from 59,147 units sold to dealers last year.Mahindra, a SUV specialist and India’s second largest SUV maker, recorded its highest monthly sales at 25 per cent last month at 54,504 units last month.
Mahindra, which has a portfolio comprised entirely of SUVs, reported a rise in sales every month this year ending March 2025, mostly supported by new launches such as the Thar Roxx SUV.
“We are excited to have clocked the highest-ever SUV sales of 54,504 vehicles in October, a growth of 25 per cent and highest ever total volume of 96,648, a growth of 20 per cent,” said Veejay Nakra, President, Automotive Division, M&M.
He noted that the festive month began on a fantastic note with Thar Ross garnering 1.7 lakh bookings in the first 60 minutes and the positive momentum continued across the SUV portfolio through the festive season.
Hyundai Motor also clocked its highest-ever monthly SUV sales at 37,902 units, including highest ever monthly domestic sales of the Hyundai Creta at 17,497 units last month.
“SUVs remain a cornerstone of our lineup, representing an impressive 68.2 per cent of our total monthly sales in October 2024, with similar penetration in urban as well as rural markets. This strong demand underscores the broad appeal of our SUV line-up and our commitment to delivering quality and performance to all our customers,” said Tarun Garg, whole-time director and COO at HMIL.
Meanwhile, sales at Toyota Kirloskar Motor soared 41 per cent at 30,845 units last month, up from 21,879 units sold last year. However, sales at Tata Motors remained flat at 48,131 units last month.
Sales at JSW MG Motor jumped 31 per cent at 7,045 units, including its electric vehicles last month. It sold 3,116 units of the MG Windsor electric SUV, saying its sales were the highest among all other passenger electric cars sold in October.
