Tata Motors is India’s top SUV player

Tata Motors — which in December 2021 became India’s second-largest car-seller has now become the country’s largest SUV player, a company official said.

Tata Motors — which in December 2021 became India’s second-largest car-seller (it sold 35,299 units, more than Hyundai’s 32,312) — has now become the country’s largest SUV player, a company official said.

“By selling 67,975 SUVs in Q3FY22, Tata Motors is the top SUV player,” Rajan Amba, vice-president, sales, marketing & customer care, Tata Motors passenger vehicles, told FE. “Almost 70% of total SUV sales in India come from compact and high SUV sub-segments, where Tata has a strong presence, with the Punch, Nexon, Harrier and Safari.

”The carmaker’s average monthly sales of SUVs have increased from 10,000 in Q1FY22 to 13,500 in Q2FY22 to over 22,000 in Q3FY22. In January 2022, it sold 28,108 SUVs, i.e. 69% of its total passenger vehicle sales (40,777 units); the SUV sales share for the entire industry is 41%.

“Indian SUV market is expected to expand to 12 lakh units in FY22, up from 8.5 lakh in FY21, and Tata Motors continues to bet big on this,” Amba said. “Our market share (within SUVs) has increased from 11% in Q4FY21 to 22% in Q3FY22.

”Tata Motors now aims at retaining the number one SUV brand position in India, and expects to sell more SUVs in FY22 than the total number of passenger vehicles it sold in FY21 (2,22,025 units).

Amba added that entry-level SUVs —Punch (`5.65 lakh onwards) and Nexon (Rs 7.4 lakh onwards) — have helped it reach this position. “The Punch has cumulatively sold 32,000 units within four months of launch (on October 18, 2021), and the Nexon is the largest selling SUV in its segment,” he said.

“The Harrier (`14.5 lakh onwards) and the Safari (`15 lakh onwards) have together sold more than 30,000 units between April and December 2021.”On Wednesday, to celebrate its SUV leadership, Tata Motors introduced the ‘Untamed Kaziranga Edition of SUVs’, inspired by India’s rich geographical and biological diversity while also paying homage to the country’s national parks.

“The Kaziranga Edition — available only on the respective top trims of our four SUVs — gets the grassland beige body colour with a dual-tone roof, and earthy beige leatherette upholstery and tropical wood dashboard, among other changes,” Amba said. The Kaziranga Edition is about `20,000 more expensive than regular trims.

“Special editions such as the Kaziranga are planned about a year in advance. We had the strategy, and more importantly the belief, in place over a year ago that Tata Motors would emerge as India’s biggest SUV player,” Amba said.While Tata Motors was India’s second-largest car-seller in December 2021, Hyundai took that rank back in January 2022, by selling 44,022 units, more than Tata’s 40,777 units.

-          financialexpress