SUVs Take Precedence, But Hatchbacks Are Here To Stay: Tata Motors

There’s no doubt that SUVs have taken the front seat when it comes to sales not only in India but also globally. In FY23, the Tata Punch, Tata Nexon, Tata Harrier and Tata Safari, led the SUV segment by clocking 31 per cent market share. The four SUVs contributed 66 per cent of the total volumes of 3.05 lakh units in FY23. In an exclusive interview with AckoDrive, Vivek Srivatsa, Head- Marketing, Sales and Service Strategy, at Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, said, “SUVs are central to our strategy the industry is moving towards that you know dramatically fast half of the industry is now SUV you know which is something nobody would have imagined even 4 years back I would say so we have to have an SUV centric approach.”

Also Read: Altroz EV Not Ruled Out: Tata Motors

So to an extent, the hatchback segment is getting a bit ignored, according to us, but Srivatsa has a different take on this. “Our hatches have been performing very well. You know Tiago is among the few hatches which have grown in volume. Multi powertrain has helped us a lot. Same thing for the Altroz. Well you know the Altroz was launched with the dual cylinder CNG with liberated boot space so Altroz with petrol diesel and CNG continues to do well. We will continue to focus on this segment as it’s a very important category for us.”

While the contribution of the hatchback, premium hatchback and subcompact sedan to the overall volumes might not be too high, overall volumes have grown ever since they were launched. Srivatsa said, “Our hatches have been performing very well. Products are continuing to grow over their life cycle. The Tiago from its launch in 2016 has grown in volume and the same thing with Altroz.”

So what does the future hold for this segment then? Srivatsa maintains that there are exciting times ahead of us. “We will have other exciting upgrades to both of these (Tiago and Altroz) in the future and be focused on gaining share in the hatch segment.”

While we know there’s a racer edition coming for the Altroz and the EV cousin is on its way, there may be a new-gen Tiago on its way, and we can’t wait to know more about it.