It could be tricky to hold the attention of car buyers. The sales of MPVs had caught the attention of the Indian consumers with the mix of utility and price. Now, it has nosedived as the potential buyers look forward to the SUVs that are available in the market.
At the end of the fiscal that ended in March 2016, the share of the MPVs in the utility vehicle sales was at 160,000 units that is down by a quarter from 35 percent that was four years back.
In the conditions of dropping sales in the segment, it was stated by General Motors India that it has dropped the plans to launch the Spin MPV that was scheduled to happen in the current fiscal. The manufacturer stated that it will listen to the customers and shift the focus towards the growing segments such as SUVs.
The managing director of GM India, Kaher Kazem, stated that there is an overwhelming response for the Beat Activ that was displayed at this year’s Auto Expo. Hyundai Motor stated that it has also shelved its plans of designing an MPV that is codenamed IP that was slated to enter the segment in the next fiscal. The automaker shifted its focus and also reallocated the resources to a SUV measuring 4 meters that is planned for the year 2019.
The senior vice president for sales as well as marketing at Hyundai Motor India, Rakesh Srivastava, stated that the MPV segment is nose-diving in the growing market as the customers prefer the compact SUVs. This segment is still not matured to generate scale and it requires more understanding for the launch of an MPV from Hyundai, be stated.
However, brands such as Maruti Suzuki Ertiga and Toyota Innova have cashed on this trend as the new Innova Crysta has managed to secure over 20,000 units of booking with just a few months of waiting period.
