Top 10 best-selling sub-four metre SUVs of October 2023
The sub-compact SUV segment is one of the hottest in the four-wheeler industry today. But which does the country think is the best? We’ve listed out the top-10 best-selling sub-4m SUVs here
Mahindra XUV 300: The Mahindra XUV300 has done fairly well for itself especially when looking at it from a year-on-year perspective. Sales of the SUV have grown 113.19 percent from 2,282 units in October 2022 to 4,865 units last month. The XUV300 is essentially a smaller sibling to the XUV500 and for the most part features a lot of the same design cues. The car is ready for an update now and the test mules of an XUV300 facelift have already been spotted on the streets. These are, of course, completely camouflaged but the basic silhouette remains the same. There may be a new grille on offer along with tweaked LED headlamps and tail lamps. Reports also suggest that the facelifted XUV300 could have ADAS capabilities which will make the car safer for passengers. Powering the current XUV300 is a choice between a turbo-petrol and a turbo-diesel. The 1.2-litre petrol delivers 108 hp of power and 200 Nm of peak torque while the mStallion turbo-petrol generates 128 hp and 230 Nm. The diesel on the other hand produces 115 hp and 300 Nm. These engines are most likely to be carried forward to the facelift as well.
2/10
Mahindra Thar: It seems kind of criminal to call the Mahindra Thar a sub-compact SUV, but its overall length does fall within the 4-metre mark. The Mahindra Thar is for the most part an enthusiast’s SUV, or at least it used to be. The current generation of the SUV makes a big change when it comes to passenger comfort and that is one of the reasons the Thar has managed to sell so many units. The Thar’s sales in October stood at 5,593 units. From 3,666 units in the same month last year, this is a growth of 52.56 percent. A testament to its popularity is the 76,000-unit booking milestone it reached just recently since its debut back in November 2020. The Mahindra Thar is a proper rugged-looking SUV when it comes to aesthetics. It’s got offroad capabilities to back up its design such as sharp approach and departure angles, high and low ratio gears, auto differential locks and high ground clearance, among others. All of this is powered by three engine options, one of which is exclusively available in a lower variant rear-wheel-drive capacity.
3/10
Kia Sonet: With the number of powertrain and transmission options on offer, you would think the Kia Sonet would sit higher on this list. At number eight, however, Kia sold 6,493 units of the sub-compact SUV in October. Unfortunately, this is also a 14.72 percent decline in sales from the 7,614 units that were sold in October last year. The Sonet is powered by three engine options—a 1.2-litre naturally aspirated petrol, a 1.5-litre diesel unit and a 1-litre turbo-petrol. Transmission options include a manual transmission, DCT automatic, torque convertor automatic and an intelligent manual transmission (iMT). Some might say the Sonet is ageing now, but the car is getting ready for its facelift and has been spotted testing on the streets just recently. While the engine options will remain unchanged, the camouflaged test mule did highlight some interesting changes to the exteriors. These include tweaked headlamps, dual-tone alloy wheels, a single-pane sunroof and a spoiler integrated into the roof complete with a high-mounted stoplight. The interiors could also see some new components such as an all-digital driver’s display, touch-based HVAC controls, blinds, updated upholstery and even ADAS for added safety.
4/10
Hyundai Exter: The vehicle has been on sale for only a short time, but has made it all the way up to number seven in the monthly sales charts already. Launched back in July this year, there isn’t a growth figure it can be compared to, but Hyundai has sold 8,097 units of the SUV in October. Against September’s 8,647 sales figure, however, this is a slight dip of 6.37 percent. Launched at Rs 5.99 lakh, the Hyundai Exter strikes a fine balance between retro and modern design thanks to its stocky build, squared main headlamp units and wheel arches. The modernity comes from the LED DRLs and curves in just the right places. The Exter is powered by a single 1.2-litre petrol that produces 83 hp and 114 Nm. This comes mated to either a 5-speed manual or a 5-speed automatic. Now, Hyundai also offers this engine with a factory-fitted CNG kit. With this kit installed, the power and torque are reduced to 69 hp and 95.2 Nm, respectively. Additionally, the CNG variant is only available with a single 5-speed manual transmission option. The Exter isn’t light on features either and gets things like an 8-inch infotainment screen complete with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, automatic climate control, wireless phone charger, cruise control, digital driver’s display and a sunroof.
Mahindra Bolero: The Bolero is the workhorse SUV in the Mahindra lineup. Scoring an impressive 9,674 units in sales for October, Mahindra has managed to sell 10 percent more units of the SUV compared to October 2022’s 8,772. The Bolero is available in largely two variants, both of which have wildly different design cues. The classic Bolero, as the name suggests, is conventionally designed as a box on wheels. If it ain’t broke, why fix it, right? The Bolero Neo, on the other hand, is a lot sleeker with sharp liking headlamps and rounded surfaces. Then you have the powertrains. The Classic gets the 1.5-litre mHawk75 diesel engine capable of 76 hp and 210 Nm. The Neo, on the other hand, is powered by a 1.5-litre mHawk100 diesel engine capable of 99 hp of maximum power and 260 Nm of peak torque. There are differences in the interiors as well with the Neo adding more modern creature comforts such as a 2-DIN centre console, upgraded upholstery, MID sandwiched between analogue dials, multi-function steering wheel and others. Back in September, Mahindra also launched the Bolero Neo+ Ambulance, built to comply with AIS:125 (Part 1) norms that govern the Type-B ambulance segment. Safe to say, not everyone can buy this, but a launch of the standard Neo+ shouldn’t be too far off.
6/10
Maruti Fronx: Maruti Suzuki launched its sub-compact SUV, the Fronx, back in April this year and it reflects the type of sales Maruti Suzuki usually gets. Standing at number five on October’s chart, Maruti Suzuki sold 11,357 units of the Fronx. The Fronx wasn’t on sale last year, but on a month-on-month basis, sales have marginally fallen by 1 percent from September’s 11,455 sales figure. On the design side, the Fronx is similar to the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara. It gets a chunky grille on an upright nose, sleek LED DRLs, a split headlamp and a butch stance thanks to creases in the right places. The Fronx is powered by two petrol engines. The first is a 1.2-litre naturally aspirated unit that produces 90 hp of maximum power. This is then paired to either a 5-speed manual or a 5-speed automatic transmission. The other is a 1-litre Boosterjet turbo-petrol that produces 100 hp of maximum power and 147 Nm of peak torque mated to either a 5-speed manual, and a 6-speed torque-convertor automatic.
7/10
Hyundai Venue: Marginally beating the Fronx, Hyundai sold 11,581 units of the Venue in October 2023. This is a decent 20.82 percent increase from last year’s 9,585 sales figure. The Hyundai Venue was recently updated to feature ADAS for its top-spec variants, making it one of the most affordable SUVs to come equipped with the safety suite. With this, the Venue gets features such as forward collision warning and avoidance assist, emergency autonomous brakes, lane-keep assist, lane departure warning, driver attention warning, high-beam assist and others. The Venue gets three powertrain options. A 1.2-litre diesel produces 83 hp and 113.8 Nm and is mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. The 1.5-litre diesel produces 116 hp and 250 Nm and is mated to a 5-speed manual. Finally, the 1-litre turbo-petrol is capable of generating 120 hp of maximum power and 172 Nm of peak torque. This is then mated to either a 6-speed manual or a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission.
8/10
Tata Punch: Driving in at number three is the Tata Punch with solid sales of 15,317 units. This is a 39.47 percent growth from last year’s 10,982. The Tata Punch has been one of the more popular sub-compact SUVs for a while and with the electrification of four-wheelers strongly underway, the Punch is also all set to receive its EV variant really soon. Testing of the Punch EV has already begun and the SUV has been spotted a number of times on the streets. Design-wise, we should see a similar silhouette to the ICE Punch, but with some tweaks to the headlamps and tail lamps and even new wheels. Of course, there aren’t any details on the powertrain, but we can expect a similar battery size to the one in the Tigor EV or the Nexon EV, so expect a range of more than 300 km on a single charge. The current ICE Punch is powered by a single 1.2-litre petrol engine that produces 87 hp and 115 Nm. There is a factory-fitted CNG kit as well which reduces these figures to 73 hp and 103 Nm.
Maruti Suzuki Brezza: At number two, you have Maruti Suzuki’s best-selling SUV, the Brezza. With 16,050 units sold in October, sales of the Brezza have grown by a massive 61.45 percent compared to October 2022 at just 9,941 units. The Brezza is powered by Maruti Suzuki’s K15C 1.5-litre petrol engine. This produces 103 hp of maximum power and 136 Nm of peak torque. Transmission options include both manual as well as automatic gearboxes. Now while the Brezza is loaded with creature comforts, Maruti Suzuki recently updated the SUV with some changes to those features. Most significantly, the company has added seat-belt reminders as standard across the range Unfortunately, the manufacturer also decided to remove the mild-hybrid tech from some of its manual transmission options. The tech will now only be available on the automatic variants of those trims. Despite these changes, however, the Indian consumer continues to shower its love on the Maruti Suzuki Brezza.
10/10
Tata Nexon: Finally, at numero uno, we have India’s best-selling SUV, the Tata Nexon. Tata Motors has been having a wonderful run of the charts over the last year, especially when it comes to the country’s best-selling SUV title. This title was reserved for the Hyundai Creta for a long while, but the SUV has fallen from grace to number 10 on the overall monthly sales charts. As for the Nexon, however, Tata managed to sell 16,887 units in October 2023, growing 22.66 percent from 13,767 units in October 2022. The SUV was recently updated to its new-gen avatar alongside its EV counterpart complete with new exterior styling and stylish interiors. Powering the Nexon is the same 1.2-litre turbo-petrol and 1.5-litre turbo-diesel as before. These produce 120 hp and 115 hp of power, respectively. The Tata Nexon EV on the other hand gets two battery pack options—30 kWh and 40.5 kWh. The electric motor also produces different power outputs: 127 hp on the smaller 30 kWh battery pack and 143 hp on the bigger unit. This directly translates to its 325 km and 465 km driving range, respectively.
Stanford Masters Journalist who writes on automobiles
