Will Curvv Be An SUV Trend Setter?

'We will have multiple engine options -- electric vehicle and internal combustion engine in diesel and petrol.'

With the upcoming Curvv SUV Coupe, Tata Motors, which has an 18.5 per cent share of the sport utility vehicle (SUV) market in India, is eyeing a foothold in the mid-SUV segment, where it has no presence so far.

The car is set to be launched on August 7, and its first look has been unveiled without disclosing the price.

Cars in the mid-SUV segment (which is about 4.3 metres in length) come in a wide price range -- from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh.

Speaking to Business Standard, Vivek Srivatsa, chief commercial officer at Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, said: "The price band in this category starts around Rs 10 lakh and goes up to Rs 20 lakh or so. We want to be present across the price band, which means we will have multiple engine options -- electric vehicle (EV) and internal combustion engine (ICE) in diesel and petrol."

The Curvv will be launched with the EV version, and within a month the ICE versions will come.

EV customers want a higher range. "With this car, this may as well be the single car in the household. With smaller EVs, many are using them as a second car or use it only as city-cars," Srivatsa said.

Tata Motors had earlier indicated it was attracting conventional customers into buying EVs.

SUVs, from having a 20 per cent share of the passenger vehicle market about five years ago, have more than 50 per cent.

Along with this there has been a lot of fragmentation -- sub-compact SUVs (3.8 metres in length), compact SUVs (up to 3.99 metres), mid-SUV (about 4.3 metres) and then high-SUV (4.5-4.6 metres); and finally larger SUVs, which go beyond that.

Mid-SUVs are emerging as the largest category among SUVs with a market share of more than 33 per cent.

Sub-compact SUVs have a 20 per cent share, and compact ones will have around 25 per cent. The remaining come from high-SUVs and beyond.

Entry into the mid-SUV segment was inevitable because the numbers show sub-compact and mid SUVs are growing faster than the rest of the sub-categories.

In FY24, sub-compact SUVs more than doubled (110 per cent growth), while mid-SUVs grew by 41 per cent or so. Compact and high-SUV sales were slightly down. In Q1FY25, sub-compact SUVs continued to grow strongly -- 75 per cent while mid-SUVs clocked 20 per cent growth. See chart.

"In SUVs we have about an 18.5 per cent market share, considering we are not even present in the mid-SUV category. In the sub-compact category we have a 40 per cent market share, and in the compact SUV segment we have about 28 per cent. And in the high-SUV category we have 26 per cent," Srivatsa said.

"There's no reason why we can't replicate a similar performance in the mid-SUV category as well," he added.

The mid-SUV segment has the potential of contributing one-third of its SUV volumes, and Srivatsa said he was looking at that.

Tata Motors has cars in the sub-compact (Atroz), compact (Punch and Nexon), and also in high-SUV (Harrier and Safari) categories.

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com