The current scenario in the Indian automobile market shows us that the sales of the utility vehicles fared better than the sedans in the first five months of the financial year 2012-13. What has changed the mindset of the people to shift from buying a diesel sedan to a diesel UV? With the rising petrol prices, the market is focused more into the diesel cars and the diesel UVs top the list. During the period between the month of April and August, utility vehicle sales grew by a mind blowing 57.03%.
Utility Vehicles offer both the comfort of a sedan and practicality of a SUV. The launch of UV’s like Maruti Suzuki Ertiga, Renault Duster and Mahindra XUV500 in the diesel versions made these cars have a better edge over the sedans, as they offer more value for money, more comfort, more boot-space, more leg room, better fuel efficiency, higher ground clearance and many other aspects. The automobile market is going to get flooded in the UV segment with the launch of Chevrolet’s Enjoy, Ford’s much anticipated EcoSport, Nissan’s Evalia and Mahindra’s Quanto.
With a price range of Rs. 6-15 lakhs, the utility vehicle segment would make customers to think over sedans. Maruti Suzuki received 32,000 bookings for the Ertiga, especially the diesel version , keeping a waiting period of almost six months, the company is able to roll out only 6,000 units a month. On the other hand, Renault India received over 15,000 bookings for the Renault Duster with a waiting period of over three months. With the availability of lot of options to choose from, utility vehicles will certainly give stiff competition to sedans.
Source – Economic Times
