demand for suvs is now spilling over into the used car market too said ashutosh pandey ceo mahindra first choice wheelschennai india is now a big car market suv sales have overtaken the hatchbacksmall car segment for the first time in january 2022 according to the latest stats from jato dynamics the suv segment accounted for 42 of all passenger vehicle sales in january 2022 with hatchbackssmall cars at 35 with rural markets depressed and urban premium product demand picking up speed suvs will continue to be the largest selling segment in india in 2022 say analysts this indicates a quantum shift in consumer preference since india has traditionally been a hatchmini market advt said ravi bhatia president jato dynamics the suv boom has become a longterm trend and we forecast that well beyond january suvs will continue to overtake hatchbacks in 2022 they saved many oems from financial crisis and are now the only source of profits for many carmakers which is why 22 out of 35 new vehicles launched in 2021 were suvs another 7 new suvs will be launched this year he added analysts say part of the reason why what was once a small car market is now determinedly suv driven is because of chip shortage said rohan kanwar gupta vp sector head icra in cy2021 given the semiconductor shortage oems prioritised production of uvs to an extent on account of higher pricing flexibility in the segment as a result even as the overall production capacity was curtailed towards the end of the cy2021 the suv segment continued to record a growth in saleswhat has also skewed the market is the squeeze in disposable income at the lower end of auto consumption hemal thakkar director crisil research said rural and bottom of the automobile pyramid customers have seen their discretionary spends getting squeezed so demand is down in entry level cars and two wheelers in contrast suvs are more premium and catering to a customer base whose discretionary income has been less impacted during the pandemic demand for suvs is now spilling over into the used car market too said ashutosh pandey ceo mahindra first choice wheels more than 50 used car buyers come looking for suvs a marked shift over the past two years the supply of suvs however remains lower than demand given that historically suvs sold lesser than sedans minis and hatchbacks and this has resulted in 710 increase in suv prices in the used car market advt overall suvs are growing at 2x compared to other categories and this trend is likely to continue he addedalso readjeep india to launch 7seater suv jeep meridian in mid2022jeep india head nipun j mahajan said the company has tested the suv on every kind of terrain in india by taking it on a journey from kashmir to kanyakumari covering a distance of more than 5000 kms testing its performance on various parameters of build quality engineering and capabilitysee more detailsglobal ev sales