Segmentwise Car Sales for May 2021

Utility Vehicles outsold Hatchbacks in May 2021 and Compact SUV emerged as India's No.1 Segment last month!

SUV sales have risen to an all-time high in the Indian market and almost all the OEMs have an offering in the SUV category. And Compact SUV has picked the fancy of the automakers as it has garnered tremendous volumes over the years. Following close on the footsteps is the high-margin and high-volume Mid SUV segment. The Mid SUVs have hit the sweetest spot in terms of demand among consumers and the magnitude of money OEMs/dealers make on their sales.

It is unusual to see SUVs outselling hatches in the subcontinent. The primary reason for the shift was Maruti's phenomenal drop in production in May 2021. Maruti is undoubtedly India's largest hatchback manufacturer and any drop in its volumes will directly impact the hatchbacks volumes in the country.

Compact SUV segment contributed over 23% of the passenger cars sold in India for May 2021. However; the segment volumes fell 55 percent in May'21 vs Apr'21.
Mid SUVs followed closely to the second position and recorded the lowest drops in the Top 10 segments. Do note that India's Best-Selling Car for May'21 was also from this segment (Hyundai Creta). The segment registered a drop of 40 percent in May'21 vs Apr'21.
Compact Hatchback segment was pushed to the third position and recorded the steepest M-o-M drop in the Top 5 segments. The sales fell 73 percent in May 2021 against April 2021.
Premium Hatchbacks ranked fourth and had cumulative sales of 12,758 units in May 2021. The likes of Baleno, Altroz, i20 couldn't do much in terms of volumes in May'21.
Compact Sedan segment was single-handedly driven by Maruti Suzuki Dzire. The model alone contributed to over 70 percent of volumes in the segment. Compact Sedans ranked fifth in May 2021 and recorded a drop of 64 percent MoM.
The only segment to register an MoM increase in volumes was the Premium Sedan segment and was primarily due to the healthy dispatches of Octavia. The launch of next-generation Octavia is slated this month and the units were shipped to its dealers in May 2021 and thus the healthy rise.