SUVs gaining traction with women

After taking the global market by storm, the contemporary genre of sports utility vehicles or SUVs is now steaming the India market. The rising popularity has attracted women in droves as a unique set of customers, driven by its sheer macho driving image and off-road abilities.

The traction is highly visible in the luxury segment, where brands like Mercedes-Benz and Audi AG are witnessing a huge surge in their SUV brands.

"An SUV gives a higher view of the road, ease of driving experience and better road presence. Many customers have also expressed that they feel safe and secure in an SUV. It gives women a commanding position on the road," Roland Folger, Managing Director and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India told Business Today.

Companies say that the primary attraction for women is the functionality of these vehicles. The higher stance allows easy off-roading capabilities on poor Indian roads, along with easy navigation in heavy traffic conditions.

As per the recent data shared by luxury automakers, women form at least 15 per cent of SUV drivers. German luxury carmaker Audi, which conducts the exclusive Q drive for its SUV range, has witnessed a consistent rise in women participants. "In recent times, we have seen a 15 per cent increase in participation by women in our Audi sportscar experience, Audi Q drives, etc. We have also received a very positive response from women especially in Delhi, Gurgaon and Mumbai, which has culminated directly into sales to our women customers across our product range," the Audi India spokesperson said.

Companies say that the new SUV models have been designed keeping in mind the preferences of women drivers across the world, including Indians. While globally, SUVs continue to post strong growth at the expense of traditional segments, in India too there is a clear trend of consumers shifting interest from compact sedans and MPVs to compact SUVs. The advent of automatic (the single shift gear) has boosted the SUV craze amongst women even in the mass market segment.

"With our compact SUV Creta, we are experiencing many new segments including women SUV buyers. This is a new segment, which is almost 15-20 per cent for our automatic variants. In a diverse country like India, women prefer strongly built vehicles, which give them immense confidence, making SUV segment the biggest growth driver," says Rakesh Srivastava of Hyundai Motor India.

Indians are known to have a penchant for SUVs. The craze has been aided by the higher preference among today's Bollywood actresses, a strong testimony to this trend. The market has grown exponentially for the SUV segment in India. It now forms 25 per cent of the Indian market along with utility vehicles.

But the SUV growth has been far more for luxe players. Mercedes-Benz's SUV portfolio in India grew 45 per cent till Q3 in 2016, after a 100 per cent rise in 2015 calendar year. "I think it's the stunning design of SUVs coupled with the luxury experience that have led to many women customers in our fold. Many customers also have expressed feel of being much safe and secure in a SUV," Folger says.

Mercedes-Benz manufactures most of its SUV models like the GLA, GLC, GLE and GLS at its Pune plant and even Audi has taken a leaf out of its local operations to assemble its Q3, Q5 and the popular Q7 range at its Aurangabad factory. Local manufacturing allows competitive pricing as it invites lower taxes of around 50 per cent on such vehicles, against over 120 per cent on fully imported ones.

With a good number of luxury SUVs being purchased by women in India, Audi says it is targeting the special segment for its brands. "We are increasingly engaging with women customers and offering them Audi experience through special initiatives designed for them like the Audi Women's Drive: an exclusive programme to give women a chance to experience the driving pleasure of the Audi Q range across intense, challenging terrain," the Audi spokesperson says.

BMW India said that its smaller X1 SUV has seen sizeable women customers since the launch of the second generation earlier this year.