The turnaround of sports utility vehicle is to be prominent in India with leading world makers – Toyota, Land Rover, Audi, BMW and VW- targeting the market with full zeal. The focus is diverted to India after the US and China, as evident from the response spelt at the Auto Expo. The cars would be produced locally to make them affordable. Skoda has planned its Yeti with high-end features, said its board member.
In the US and Europe the SUVs are elements of private transportation and the recession and subsequent economy fall down has affected the routine flow of these vehicles. The cost factor too decides the sale and hence the world leaders are turning towards India and China for promoting these cars. BMW’s X6 (Rs1.3crore) is on the verge of making a decent penetration in this segment.
The President for BMW India said the response at Auto Expo has been promising in the Indian car market where SUVs have 15% share. He foresees the increase once the launch of X1in 2010. This X1will be the cheapest in the SUV segment (Rs25 lakh) and will come off from the Chennai plant.
Audi tasted 58% rise in SUV sale in 2009 and its Q5 will roll down from the local end. Audi will introduce V8 4.2lit Q7 soon as limited version, said its Head (marketing) in India. VW has its account with its Toureg SUV (Rs60lakh) and will be followed by the smaller version. Toyota is on top with the bookings for its Fortuner making 6 months wait. The segment is contributed by M&M and Tata Motors and has made an increase of 21% (1.04 lak units) for the period of April-December 2009.