Every automobile enthusiast today understands that, Indians have found a new love in compact sports utility vehicles. Major car manufacturers around the world are striving at launching new SUV models for the obsessed Indian customers. Have you ever thought what could be the reason behind such fascination and what is responsible for such massive rise of compact SUV cars in India? Well here are some reasons to answer your dilemma.
- Per capita incomes in India have risen around high single digits year-on-year since more than a decade. The Indian road conditions were affecting the smaller vehicles and the desire of driving tall over the trodden, potholed and congested roads grew stronger and hence people accepted the crossovers or compact SUV cars in India.
- Keeping that in mind, the number of first-time buyers purchasing small cars has not expanded at the same vigorous pace.
- Unlike the traditional new SUV cars, compact SUVs felt more smoother on road but had SUV like capability of doing ‘offroad stuff’ like sailing through sand and rocky roads.
- While everybody dreams of big cars, SUVs are expensive owing to its ladder on frame construction and other vital factors. Crossovers and some new SUV cars are based on smaller cars and hence cheaper.
- Majority of urban areas in India are heavily populated and hence it was difficult to buy and maintain a SUV car in India. Compact SUVs solve this problem without compromising the idea of SUV concept as they are more compact and need lesser space.
- Regular SUVs come with a leaf spring suspension which are rugged and good for off-roading but feel bouncy on the road. These suspensions also have a tendency of being soft around corners. Compact SUVs are also used mainly routed tarmac so ruggedness doesn’t really matter. They also have a significantly mature and road biased suspension making them more comfortable to drive.
SUVs always belonged to a high-price bracket of the car market. They were always perceived as aspirational ambitions of average Indian customer. Buyers wished to buy them but looking at their budget, they had to settle for small sedan or a hatchback. The introduction of crossovers or compact SUV cars in India saw comfortable vehicles come at affordable to a large section of Indian car buyers. Crossovers marked the end to the Indian SUV lover’s desires.