If the Indian passenger vehicle industry, which has registered wholesales of an estimated 24.2 lakh units (up 1 percent YoY), has managed to stay out of negative territory in the first seven months of FY2025, it’s because of the sustained double-digit growth of the utility vehicle segment. At 15.6 lakh units, the UV segment, comprising SUVs and MPVs, has posted YoY growth of 13 percent and accounted for 65 percent of total passenger vehicle dispatches in the April-October 2024 period.
This is a considerable increase from the 57 percent share UVs held in April-October 2023. Without further ado then, let’s take a closer look at India’s 10 best-selling SUVs in the April-October 2024 period.
- Tata Punch, Hyundai Creta, and Maruti Brezza had six-figure sales in FY2025
- Mahindra, Tata, and Hyundai have two models each on the top 10 list
- Mahindra XUV3XO sales saw the highest growth of 73 percent
1. Tata Punch: 1,17,560 units, up 34 percent YoY
The Tata Punch, India’s third best-selling SUV in FY2024 (1,69,844 units, up 27 percent) after the Tata Nexon and the Maruti Brezza, is currently leading the top 10 SUVs table in FY2025. In fact, it opened this fiscal year with a new monthly high of 19,158 units in April 2024, which is the second-highest monthly stat for any SUV in FY2025 to date, after the Maruti Brezza’s 19,190 units in August 2024.
Not only has the Punch outsold its sibling, the Nexon – India’s best-selling SUV in FY2024, FY2023, and FY2022 – for the past 10 months, but it also has a 48 percent share of Tata Motors’ total SUV dispatches of 2,42,948 units. In June 2024, the Punch hit the 4 lakh sales milestone, becoming the fastest SUV model to do so (in 33 months) since its launch in October 2018.
2. Hyundai Creta: 1,13,913 units, up 18 percent YoY
Just 3,647 units behind the Tata Punch is the Hyundai Creta, India’s best-selling midsize SUV and the No. 4 UV in FY2024. It has raced to the No. 2 position in the first seven months of FY2025. The 1,13,913 units, which comprise 47 percent of Hyundai Motor India’s total UV sales of 2,41,282 units, represent an 18 percent YoY growth.
In October 2024, the new Creta clocked its highest-ever monthly dispatches – 17,497 units – showing Hyundai ensured its showrooms were not found wanting for delivery in the festive season. The rapid demand for the model has meant that the new Creta cruised to 1,00,000 unit sales in just six months. This makes it the fastest in its segment to hit the 1 lakh milestone and in half the time the Maruti Grand Vitara took. From January 2024 to October 2024, the Creta has clocked wholesales of 1,58,859 units.
3. Maruti Brezza: 1,10,024 units, up 12 percent YoY
The third SUV in the top 10 chart with six-figure wholesales is the Maruti Brezza compact SUV. Between April and October, the Brezza registered cumulative sales of 1,10,024 units, up 12 percent YoY (April-October 2023: 97,978 units), opening the fiscal year with 17,113 units in April and hitting a best-ever monthly figure of 19,190 units in August.
The Brezza missed out on the No. 1 SUV title in FY2024 by a whisker – just 2,032 units – to the Tata Nexon but, as seen in the current fiscal, it is hard on the heels of its podium partners: the Punch and the Creta. Total cumulative sales since its launch, which drove past the 10 lakh-unit milestone in December 2023, are 11.6 lakh units.
4. Mahindra Scorpio N/Scorpio Classic: 96,970 units, up 32 percent YoY
Mahindra is firing on all cylinders in FY2025 and is well set to achieve 5 lakh unit sales for the first time in a fiscal. With 3,14,714 units sold between April and October 2024, the SUV maker has already achieved 68 percent of its record wholesales of 4,59,877 units in FY2024. Leading the charge are the Scorpio twins with 96,970 units, followed by the XUV 3XO (60,063 units), Bolero (56,381 units), XUV700 (53,927 units), Thar and Thar Roxx (42,726 units), XUV400 (4,531 units), and the Marazzo (114 units).
5. Maruti Fronx: 90,260 units, up 21 percent YoY
Ranked fifth on the top 10 SUV list is the Maruti Fronx compact SUV with 90,260 units, which gives it a 22 percent share of Maruti Suzuki’s UV sales of 4,14,309 units between April and October. FY2024 saw Maruti Suzuki launch three all-new Nexa models – the Fronx, Jimny and Invicto. Of these three, the Fronx has been the most successful.
In September, the Baleno-based Maruti Fronx became the second premium SUV from the Nexa channel, after the Grand Vitara, to achieve 2 lakh-unit wholesales in the domestic market. Having clocked 1,00,000 sales in just 10 months after its launch in April 2023, the next 1,00,000 Fronx compact SUVs have been sold in a scant seven months. And, as in FY2024, it remains ahead of the eighth-ranked Grand Vitara midsize SUV in the first seven months of FY2025.
6. Tata Nexon: 87,109 units, down 9 percent YoY
The Tata Nexon compact SUV, which was India’s best-selling SUV for three straight years – FY2024, FY2023 and FY2022 – is clearly feeling the heat of the revved-up competition as well as from its own sibling, the Punch. The Nexon has dropped five ranks to No. 6.
At 87,109 units, Nexon’s sales in the first seven months of FY2025 are down by 9 percent YoY (April-October 2023: 95,862 units). The Nexon is sold in petrol, diesel, CNG, and electric avatars.
7. Maruti Grand Vitara: 69,834 units, down 1 percent YoY
The Grand Vitara, which continues to be a key contributor to Maruti Suzuki’s premium Nexa sales channel, has registered total wholesales of 69,834 units in the April-October 2024 period, down marginally by 1 percent from its year-ago sales of 70,572 units.
Maruti Suzuki India’s flagship model remains popular with SUV buyers with its fuel-efficient hybrid system, clever packaging, and interior quality, but it seems to be feeling the heat from the new competition. In early July 2024, this premium Nexa model, which was the fastest midsize SUV to hit 1,00,000 sales in 12 months, raced past the 2 lakh milestone in 22 months.
8. Hyundai Venue: 67,422 units, down 12 percent YoY
The Venue, the first compact SUV from Hyundai Motor India, is the third model after the Tata Nexon and Maruti Grand Vitara in this top 10 SUVs list to register a cumulative sales decline in the first seven months of FY2025. At 67,422 units, the Venue’s wholesales are down 12 percent YoY (April-October 2023: 76,956 units), which translates into 9,534 fewer units than in the year-ago period.
Demand for the Venue seems to have slowed down in the wake of the rollout of the Exter, Hyundai’s second compact SUV launched a year ago. The Exter has sold 49,065 units in the first seven months of FY2025. Launched in May 2019, the Hyundai Venue recently drove past cumulative sales of 6 lakh units in the Indian market.
9. Kia Sonet: 64,716 units, up 42 percent YoY
The penultimate SUV in this top 10 listing is the Kia Sonet compact SUV with 64,716 units, which is a stellar 42 percent YoY increase (April-October 2023: 45,559 units). Launched in January 2024, the Sonet facelift, equipped with plenty of features and also ADAS, has emerged as Kia India’s highest-selling model.
The Sonet has outsold its sibling, the Seltos midsize SUV, for 10 straight months this year and, along with the Carens MPV, it has helped propel demand for the Korean brand. In the first seven months of FY2025, Kia sold a total of 1,50,074 units, giving the Sonet a strong 43 percent share.
10. Mahindra XUV300/3XO: 60,063 units, up 73 percent
Wrapping up the top 10 SUVs for the first seven months of FY2025 is the Mahindra XUV300/3XO. The compact SUV’s cumulative sales, at 32,501 units, are a handsome 73 percent YoY increase (April-October 2023: 34,632 units). This translates to an additional 25,431 units, the second-highest increase in terms of additional units YoY amongst the top 10 SUVs in this list after the 29,617 additional Tata Punch despatched. In April, Mahindra launched the XUV 3XO – the facelifted version of the XUV300 – which has given a fresh charge to sales.
Compact SUVs rule the Top 10 sales chart
Compact SUVs continue to outsell midsize SUVs, maintaining their grip on the market. This segment, which registered sales of over 10 lakh units in FY2024 and accounted for a 25 percent share of the record 25.2 lakh UV despatches in India, has seen total despatches of an estimated 7,96,575 units from April to October 2024 (up 13 percent YoY). This constitutes 51 percent of the total UVs sold (15,69,297 units) and means that every second SUV sold is a compact (less than 4,000mm long) model.
The top 10 best-selling models listed above together add up to 8,78,071 units (up 16 percent YoY), comprising 5,97,354 compact SUVs and 2,80,717 midsize SUVs, which makes for a 68:32 percent ratio in favour of compact SUVs. Small, as they say, can often be big.
Also see:
Tata Tiago sales cross 6 lakh milestone
Hisashi Takeuchi on Maruti Suzuki Dzire, sales expectation, compact sedan segment & more
Toyota Innova Hycross sales cross one lakh units in two years
