Fuel price hike takes away speed from SUVs; growth of domestic sales slows

Domestic sales growth fall to a single digit after two years

The sharp rise in fuel prices has slowed sales growth of utility vehicles (UVs), making it the slowest segment in the domestic passenger vehicles (PV) market this year.

The PV segment comprises UVs, cars, and vans. Two sub-segments of UVs are sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs). The emergence of affordable compact SUVs in recent years helped expand the UV market.

In the first half (H1) of 2018-19 (FY19), UVs have grown 5.4 per cent, compared to 6.8 per cent for cars and 14.5 per cent for vans. In the same period of 2017-18 (FY18), UV sales grew