Models unleashed by OEMs during last Expo relevant even now

Shah Rukh Khan unveiling the all-new Creta at Auto Expo 2020

The 15th edition of Auto Expo, which was held at the India Expo Mart in Greater Noida between 7th and 12th February 2020, is considered the harbinger of Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) market boom as well as the beginning of Electric Vehicle (EV) revolution in the country. This could be reinforced by the fact that the trends seen in the pre-Covid Expo get amplified in the post-Covid Expo, which will also see an avalanche of SUV and EV unveils and launches.

Auto Expo 2020, which witnessed a turnout of 600,000+ visitors, saw the participation of many global automakers, such as Great Wall Motors (including namesake and Haval brands), Haima Automobile (in association with Bird Group), Hyundai Motor India, Kia Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), Maruti Suzuki, Mercedes-Benz, MG Motor, Renault, Škoda Auto, Tata Motors, Volkswagen, etc. Some of them, however, have opted out this time around due to their own reasons.

Moneycontrol does a deep dive analysis on how some of the models which were unveiled at Auto Expo 2020, such as all-new Hyundai Creta and Tucson, Kia Sonnet and Carnival, the updated Ignis, Vitara Brezza, and Mahindra eXUV300 (launched as the XUV400), etc., have performed in terms of sales and the impact so far.

Maruti Suzuki had unveiled the Futuro-E electric SUV, updated Vitara Brezza, upgraded Ignis, and the three-door Jimny SUV at the Auto Expo. According to Jato Dynamics, nearly 247,245 units of Vitara and 111,680 units of Ignis were sold till November 2022 since their launch in early 20220. The third generation of this model was launched as ‘Brezza’ last year (not unveiled at the Expo), and 61,612 units of the model sold till November, as per Jato Dynamics.

A Maruti Suzuki spokesperson did not respond to queries sent by Moneycontrol on the sales performance of Ignis and Vitara Brezza. A senior official of the company had revealed that Brezza always commanded a long waiting period even before the launch last year of the current generation version.

Similarly, Hyundai Motor India had unveiled the all-new Creta as well as the new Tucson at the last edition of Auto Expo.

The Hyundai Creta spearheaded the brand’s SUV sales with the highest-ever annual sales volume of 140,895 units in 2022 since the first generation of this model was launched in 2015. Furthermore, SUVs now contribute 50 percent of HMIL’s overall sales volume, the company claims.

Jato Dynamics claims that 346,216 units of Creta and 3,916 units of the Tucson have been sold till date. Queries sent to the Hyundai India spokesperson, too remained unanswered until press time.

Hyundai India’s sister company Kia India had unveiled the concept version of the Kia Sonet (now available in production version) and the production version of Carnival MPV at the Auto Expo. KIA, when contacted, said that it had sold 203,851 units of the Sonet since its launch in September 2020, and 12,930 units of the Carnival since its rollout in January 2020.

The Kia Sonet, which was launched at an introductory price tag of Rs 6.71 lakh, going up to Rs 11.99 lakh, fought a tough battle with Tata Nexon (ICE version), Hyundai Venue and Maruti Suzuki Brezza. The company claimed the compact SUV saw sales of one lakh units in 12 months and 1.5 lakh units in less than two years. In FY22, with 73,864 units sold, the Sonet was also the fourth-highest-selling compact SUV.

Tata Motors had unveiled the HBX concept car, which was eventually rolled out as the Punch micro-SUV. It had also showcased the Gravitas, which turned out to be the concept version of the Safari SUV. A 2020 edition of the Harrier was also launched.

In August 2022, the company had rolled out the 1,00,000th unit of Tata Punch from its manufacturing facility in Pune. In an official release, it had claimed that the Tata Punch has set a ‘new benchmark’ in the industry, by becoming the first SUV to achieve this milestone in a span of 10 months, since its launch in October 2021. It had also claimed that this model had received a phenomenal response from customers for its stunning design, robust performance, and best-in-class 5-star safety rating.

Shailesh Chandra, Managing Director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd, had said in an official release, “Punch is one of the highest-selling SUVs from our ‘New Forever’ portfolio. This achievement speaks highly of the strong response from customers and we are very thankful to them for their continued trust.”

Jato Dynamics revealed that 141,880 units of the Punch SUV have been sold since its official launch till November 2022. Tata Motors’ spokesperson is yet to respond to queries sent by Moneycontrol.

M&M, which is not participating in this edition of the Expo, had unveiled the production-specs of the XUV300 EV (which was launched recently as XUV400) and the eKUV100 at the 2020 Auto Expo. The company had also unveiled the Funster electric vehicle (EV) at the same event. It had also unveiled the eKUV100, which is yet to be commercially available. The numbers of the aforementioned models are not available as none barring XUV400 (yet to see deliveries) are being launched.

MG Motor India had sold 6,672 units of Gloster and 24.342 units of Hector Plus since the launch of both the models at Auto Expo 2020. VW India had sold 30,868 units of Taigun SUV since its launch in September, as per JATO Dynamics. The spokespeople of both companies were yet to revert on emailed queries sent by Moneycontrol.

Ravi Bhatia, Director, Jato Dynamics, told Moneycontrol, “It is the top three carmakers, Hyundai, Maruti Suzuki, and Kia, which understood the pulse of the market and launched relevant products – the SUVs. Hyundai Creta stole the show. That’s because despite being priced in the Rs 12-15 lakh segment, this model saw record bookings and unprecedented waiting periods. I see that trend of the last Expo getting replicated on a much bigger scale in this Expo. Also, this edition will see the emerging theme of electrification.”