Meet Sonal Deshmukh, 40, a Mumbai-based banker. A fortnight in the past, when she was available in the market to switch her 15-year-old midsize sedan with one other car, she was very clear – she did not need simply one other sedan and her subsequent car needed to be an SUV. Final month, Deshmukh drove residence the top-end variant of a midsize SUV.
“I wanted a automotive which supplies me sufficient headroom and legroom, presents excessive seating with out compromising on the finesse of a sedan however manoeuvres by means of the visitors and potholes with ease. Additionally, one thing which can be utilized for the weekend getaways with household. The mid-size SUV we lastly selected ticked all of the bins,” mentioned Deshmukh.
Curiously, the shift is extra pronounced in electrical SUVs, say firm executives. Ladies at present comprise about 22% of gross sales of the electrical model of Tata Motors’ Nexon compact SUV in comparison with 15% for the interior combustion engine-powered mannequin.
MG Motor India, the second largest EV maker by gross sales after Tata Motors, is seeing an identical pattern. Over time, MG has witnessed a gradual however regular enhance within the proportion of ladies patrons. At present, girls patrons contribute as much as 15% of whole car gross sales amongst all its prospects.
“Over time, MG Motor India has witnessed a gradual however regular enhance within the proportion of ladies patrons. At present, girls patrons contribute to fifteen% of the whole car gross sales amongst all our prospects. However their share is far larger relating to EVs. Ladies account for about 24% of patrons inside MG’s EV portfolio (MG ZS EV and MG Comet) reflecting a notable presence of feminine shoppers within the electrical car phase,” mentioned Gaurav Gupta, deputy MD.
Gupta expects the share of ladies to rise given the convenience and luxury of driving the most recent SUV fashions and wider vary of creature comforts.
Shashank Srivastava, senior government officer at Maruti Suzuki, India says that increasingly girls are becoming a member of the office and each automotive shopping for and automotive utilization have gotten commonplace amongst girls. “The automotive utilization for girls was largely confined to hatches and sedans however the brand new, assured girls are driving and proudly owning SUVs, most likely reflecting this confidence and prowess.”
Inside the SUV phase, premium SUVs are seeing the strongest demand, albeit on a low base, rising from 450 in 2018 to 2,500 in 2023, adopted by compact SUVs the place gross sales jumped 4.5 instances to 76,000 items in 2023 from 18,000 items in 2018.