Rise Of The SUV

Sports Utility Vehicles are laying siege to passions and purchase decisions, making them the biggest trend of 2018, says Yogendra Pratap

- Yogendra Pratap

The future may be electric but for us Indians it is still some time in the future. The here and now, roads as well as the parking lots, is being filled up with SUVs of all shapes and sizes; SUVs that look like vans and SUVs that look like hatchbacks. SUVs that can seat eight people, and those that can seat five at a stretch but only four comfortably. SUVs that are powered by diesel and even SUVs powered by petrol. They just do not stop at anything. And that isn’t just an Indian trend; it is a global trend that is driving growth. The trends in Europe were ominous. By the end of 2016, SUVs were accounting for one in four new cars sold in Europe. And that number has only grown over the last year with the SUV market share rising by nearly seven per cent to 32 per cent at last count.

SUV SURGE