Top-three compact SUVs sold in India in February – Vitara Brezza, Venue, and the Sonet

- Maruti Suzuki sold 54,850 units of the Vitara Brezza in India last month

- Hyundai sold 11,224 units of the Venue in India in February 2021 

- Kia Sonet takes third place with 7,997 unit sales in India last month 

The compact SUV segment has witnessed a strong 95 per cent growth in sales in February 2021. The compact SUV segment has emerged as the second-largest segment in the country in terms of volumes with 54,850 unit sales last month as compared to 28,169 unit sales in the same period last year. Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza emerges as the highest seller in the segment followed by the Hyundai Venue and the Kia Sonet in second and third place, respectively.

The country’s largest car manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki sold 11,585 units of the Vitara Brezza in India in February as compared to 6,866 unit sales in the same period last year, thereby registering a growth of 69 per cent. The Vitara Brezza facelift is powered by a 1.5-litre K-Series petrol engine that produces 103bhp and 138Nm of torque. This engine is offered with a five-speed manual transmission and an automatic transmission option with Smart Hybrid technology.

Hyundai Venue misses the top position with a few units. The company registered a nine per cent growth in sales with 11,224 unit sales in India last month. In the same period last year, the company sold 10,321 units of the Venue in India. The Hyundai Venue gets one diesel and two petrol engine options. The petrol engines comprise a 1.2-litre unit and a turbocharged 1.0-litre Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) unit. The former unit generates 81bhp/114Nm while the GDI unit generates 118bhp/171Nm. There’s only a five-speed manual for the 1.2-litre engine while the 1.0-litre engine can be had with either a six-speed manual, iMT or seven-speed dual-clutch automatic options. The 1.5-litre diesel engine is mated to a six-speed manual transmission which produces 99bhp at 4000rpm and 240Nm of torque at 1,500rpm.

Kia Sonet is the third highest-selling compact SUV in India with 7,997 unit sales in February 2021. The Sonet is offered with three engine options including a 1.2-litre petrol engine, 1.5-litre diesel engine, and a 1.0-litre turbo-petrol engine. The former is paired exclusively to a five-speed manual transmission while the latter two are paired to a six-speed manual transmission. A seven-speed DCT unit and a six-speed torque converter automatic unit are offered as an option with the 1.0-litre unit and the 1.5-litre diesel unit, respectively. 

Tata Nexon has marginally missed the third position with 7,929 unit sales in India last month. However, the Nexon has registered the highest 104 per cent growth in February 2021 as compared to the same period in 2020 with 3,894 unit sales. Going forward, it would be interesting to see if the Tata Nexon can outsell the Kia Sonet in March 2021.