If you are planning to enter the SUV world, there is no better way to start by buying a compact SUV. Bridging the gap between aspiration and affordability, compact SUVs offer family-oriented practicality for a price that does not drain your savings. With several alluring options available in the market, compact SUVs sell impressively well each month and October was no exception. The advent of auspicious festive occasions brought a healthy demand that the segment easily cashed in upon. Needless to say, with the SUV mania gripping the market, October truly proved to be quite a joyride with the Maruti Suzuki Brezza leading the pack. The majority of compact SUVs from the list reported a positive year-on-year growth that reflected an overall conducive environment for the segment’s unhindered growth. Here’s what the complete best-selling compact SUV sales chart looks like for the month:
Model | Units Sold in October 2024 | Units Sold in October 2023 | Y-O-Y Growth |
Maruti Suzuki Brezza | 16,565 | 16,050 | 3% |
Maruti Suzuki Fronx | 16,419 | 11,357 | 45% |
Tata Punch | 15,740 | 15,317 | 3% |
Tata Nexon | 14,759 | 16,887 | -13% |
Hyundai Venue | 10,901 | 11,581 | -6% |
Kia Sonet | 9,699 | 6,493 | 49% |
XUV 3XO | 9,562 | 4,865 | 98% |
Mahindra Thar | 7,944 | 5,593 | 42% |
Hyundai Exter | 7,127 | 8,097 | -12% |
Toyota Taisor | 3,092 | – | – |
Also Read – Sedan Cars In India
Maruti Suzuki Brezza
One of India’s most evolved compact SUVs, the Maruti Suzuki Brezza has seen it all from being a purely diesel offering to gradually shifting to being a pure petrol joyride. As expected, the festive month of October proved to be prosperous for the SUV as it wore the crown of being the best-selling compact SUV of the month in addition to being the fourth best-selling car of the month. All this came with sales of 16,565 units with a stable 3 per cent increase in year-on-year figures. Overtaking cut-throat rivals such as the Tata Punch and Nexon, the Brezza continues to be an absolute charm. The secret sauce behind this dominance is the second generation of the compact SUV that now offers features like a 360-degree camera, heads-up display and a much-awaited sunroof in addition to the Brezza’s already exciting package.
The Brezza is powered by a 1.5-litre petrol engine mated to either a five-speed manual or a six-speed torque converter automatic. It offers mild hybrid tech for maximum efficiency that can be as high as 20.15 km/l on petrol, and CNG elevates its overall affordability and value for money quotient with up to 25.51 km/kg of mileage.
Maruti Suzuki Fronx
Completing its successful first year in the market in April 2024, the Maruti Suzuki Fronx has proven to be a roaring success, especially when it comes to sales. While many cars struggle to make a mark in their initial days, the Maruti Suzuki Fronx has done the impossible by selling over 2 lakh units in just 17.3 months. This has made the Fronx India’s fastest-selling car. Offering Maruti’s latest design language, the crossover SUV brings to the table a feature-loaded and premium cabin that incorporates a plethora of features such as a 360-degree camera, heads-up display, wireless charging etc. But what truly makes the Fronx an appealing option is its aggressive pricing and exciting yet efficient powertrains. Selling 16,419 units in its eighteenth month, the Fronx reported a massive 45 per cent growth in year-on-year performance, managing to emerge as the second best-selling SUV of the month in addition to being the third best-selling car of the month.
The Fronx is offered with two engine choices: a 1-litre turbo-petrol engine with mild-hybrid technology and a 1.2-litre Dualjet petrol unit. The former comes mated to a 5-speed manual or a 6-speed automatic, while the latter comes mated to a 5-speed manual or a 5-speed AMT. The mileage on offer is superb with the turbo petrol returning up to 21.5 km/l and the naturally aspirated unit returning 22.89 km/l.
Tata Punch
Making its debut back in October 2021, the Punch has just completed its third glorious year in the market and things have truly worked in the Punch’s favour. With over three lakh units sold since launch, the popularity of the Punch is only going up, helping the compact SUV to sell over 10,000 almost every month since 2022. The festive month of October was another great run for the Punch, where it sold 15,740 units, emerging as the third best-selling compact SUV of the month, with a stable 3 per cent year-on-year growth, in addition to being the seventh best-selling car of the month as well. Now with the Tata Punch EV doing wonders in the EV space, the Punch badge has grown many folds and is on its way to becoming one of India’s most iconic cars.
What makes the Punch an unmatched success is its impeccable safety, overall affordability, a compact body with spacious enough interior. Talking of the engines, the Punch is powered by a 1.2-litre petrol engine with a five-speed manual or a five-speed AMT. In its EV avatar, the Punch is equipped with either a 25 kWh or a bigger 35 kWh battery pack. While the 25 kWh battery offers an estimated range of 315 km, the larger 35 kWh battery on the other hand offers a range of 421 km. Another great reason to bring home the Punch is the SUV’s perfect 5-star safety.
Tata Nexon
Trailing behind the Punch, the Tata Nexon despite slipping down places, continued its best-selling streak yet again, emerging as the fourth best-selling compact SUV of the month. While there is no doubt that the Nexon is one of the most iconic SUVs out there, it is evident that the Tata Nexon’s latest facelift has hit the bull’s eye, helping the SUV reach new horizons of popularity, with over 7 lakh units sold in its seventh year since launch. The Tata Nexon offers best-in-class safety blended with impressive practicality and superb reliability. While the festive month of October did help the Nexon report good sales, the overall performance wasn’t the best with the SUV reporting a saddening 13 per cent decline in year-on-year performance, despite a good 14,759 units sold. With a perfect 5-star safety rating alluring consumers, Nexon is one of the few cars in India that is offered across petrol, diesel and even electric powertrains.
Equipped with either a 1.2-litre turbo-petrol or a 1.5-litre turbocharged diesel engine, the Nexon comes mated to either a six-speed manual/AMT or a new 7-speed DCT automatic. Mileage figures for the Nexon are 24.08 km/l for diesel and up to 17.44 km/l for petrol, making the Nexon a practical choice among the competitors. In its updated electric avatar, the Nexon EV comes with either a 30.2 kWh battery pack that now returns a range of 325 km/charge and a larger 40.5 kWh pack that now returns a range of 465 km/charge.
Hyundai Venue
Adorned with Hyundai’s latest design language, the Venue brings exciting performance and great handling coupled with a thrilling ride quality and a sporty attire. Managing to sell 10,901 units in October 2024, the Venue saw a 6 per cent decline in terms of year-on-year sales from the 11,581 units the compact SUV sold in the same month last year. While the Venue sold in good numbers, it has a long road ahead of it when compared to competitors. With this, the Venue closed in at the fifth spot, beating competitors like the Mahindra Thar, Exter, XUV 3XO etc. What makes the Hyundai Venue a popular product in the market, is its premium interior, top-notch features, stylish looks, updated safety and well-refined engines.
The Venue comes powered by three peppy engines: a 1.2-litre petrol, a 1-litre turbo-petrol, and a 1.5-litre diesel unit. Transmission duties are taken care of by a five-speed manual for the 1.2-litre petrol, a six-speed iMT/DCT for the turbo petrol, and a sole six-speed manual for the diesel. Overall, the Hyundai Venue comes forth as a great SUV that brings several exciting offers onboard, including six airbags as standard across variants.
Kia Sonet
Considering that the Sonet has just recently completed four years in the market, the SUV’s success story is no less than magic. The Sonet has already managed to sell over 4 lakh units; a feat that is rarely achieved in this time frame by many. What makes the Kia Sonet a raging success in the segment, is its modern yet sporty looks, which are offered along with a host of premium features in addition to well-refined engine choices. And now with the all-new Kia Sonet facelift well in place, the SUV’s popularity has truly evolved for good. Coming to monthly sales, the Kia Sonet did exceptionally well cashing in the festive demand and finishing at the sixth spot. With 9,699 units sold, the Kia Sonet reported a mammoth 49 per cent increase in year-on-year numbers compared to the 6,493 units the SUVs sold in the same month last year.
The Kis Sonet is offered with three engines: a 1-litre turbo-petrol engine, a 1.2-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine, and a 1.5-litre diesel unit. Transmission onboard the Sonet includes either a six-speed iMT or a seven-speed DCT for the turbo petrol, a five-speed manual for the naturally aspirated petrol, and a six-speed manual/AT/iMT for the diesel.
Mahindra XUV 3XO
A prodigy hailing from a brand that is known to make SUVs, the Mahindra XUV 3XO is rather special. Adorned with evolutionary and contemporary looks alongside a premium cabin, top-notch segment-first features and a robust safety package, the Mahindra 3XO is a work of art, especially considering its highly affordable price tag. With its impressive and impeccable handling, thrilling driving dynamics and moving performance, the XUV 3XO is quite the evolution that the XUV300 needed. Thanks to Mahindra doing almost everything right, the Mahindra XUV 3XO, along with the XUV300’s leftover stocks sold a good 9,562 units, with the chart’s highest year-on-year growth figures of 98 per cent%. With this, the XUV 3XO finished at number seven and its future is looking brighter than ever.
What makes the all-new XUV 3XO a worthy choice when pitched against competitors is its robust build quality, features like the first-in-segment panoramic sunroof and dual-zone auto AC, best-in-segment wheelbase, along with top-notch safety and segment-first Level-2 ADAS onboard. The XUV 3XO is powered by three turbocharged engines that include a 1.2-litre turbo-petrol unit, a 1.5-litre turbo diesel engine and a 1.2-litre TGDI turbo-petrol engine. All engines come paired with a six-speed manual, while a torque converter automatic is available with the petrol engines, and an AMT automatic with the diesel.
Mahindra Thar
From Punjabi songs to fan clubs, the popularity of the Mahindra Thar is such that it would not be wrong to call it the most iconic SUV in the Indian market. The Mahindra Thar has a deep-rooted goodwill that finds home in the SUV’s two-decade-long legacy. Built to tackle the most unforgiving terrains, the Mahindra Thar is a stylish, capable and reliable SUV with unmatched off-road capability offering buyers the best of both worlds. Highly popular among the masses, the Thar proves its worth every month, even in the face of new-age competitors like the Jimny. And now with the 5-door Mahindra Thar Roxx working wonders, the Mahindra Thar’s popularity has expanded to a better package that rectifies the Thar’s lack of practical and lifestyle approach; two of the biggest cons that people saw in the Thar. With both the Thar as well as the Thar Roxx carrying forward the Thar legacy, the badging as a whole sold 7,944 units in the festive month of October with an impressive 42 per cent increase in year-on-year numbers, finishing at number eight.
Talking about what powers the SUV, with both four-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive trims available on offer, both the Thar as well as the Thar Roxx are powered by either a 2-litre turbo-petrol or a 2.2-litre diesel engine for the 4×4 trims. Transmission duties are handled by a six-speed manual or torque converter automatic for both the 2 and 2.2-litre engines. The Thar also offers a smaller 1.5-litre diesel engine for the RWD models that comes mated to a sole six-speed manual.
Hyundai Exter
Sharing its underpinning with the Hyundai Aura and the Grand i10 NIOS, the Hyundai Exter still manages to offer a refreshing approach that has earned a fair amount of success. Loaded with several segment-first features such as a sunroof and dashcam, the Exter shines with its dynamic performance, compact bodyline, great safety and affordable pricing. Wearing Hyundai’s parametric design language, the Exter managed to sell 7,127 units in October 2024, emerging as the ninth best-seller, despite reporting a saddening 12 per cent decline in year-on-year numbers.
Powered by a 1.2-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine mated to a 5-speed manual/AMT, the Hyundai Exter also offers manual CNG trims for maximum savings. In terms of mileage, the compact SUV does well with up to 19.4 km/l on petrol and 27.1 km/kg on CNG, making the Hyundai Exter a value-for-money choice in the segment.
Toyota Taisor
Making its debut in April 2024, the Toyota Taisor is one of the latest crossover compact SUVs to have joined the segment. Essentially the rebadged version of the Fronx, the Taisor offers a completely different design and feel, while sharing the same powertrain. Topped with several exciting features such as a 360-degree camera, heads-up display, remote ignition and much more, the Taisor is a value-for-money package. Selling 3,092 units in its sixth month since launch, the Taisor did fairly well, securing for itself the tenth position on the list, replacing the Nissan Magnite as well as the Renault Kiger.
Talking about the engine, the Taisor offers the same set-up as the Fronx that includes two engine choices; a 1-litre turbo-petrol engine with mild-hybrid technology and a 1.2-litre Dualjet petrol unit. The former comes mated to a 5-speed manual or a 6-speed automatic, while the latter comes mated to a 5-speed manual or a 5-speed AMT. The mileage on offer is superb with the turbo petrol returning up to 21.5 km/l and the naturally aspirated unit returning up to 22.89 km/l.
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