Considering buying an SUV? Factor in the waiting period

Sports utility vehicles (SUV) are emerging as the largest-selling selling segment in the Indian automotive market with more than 14.76 lakh units sold in the country in 2022. However, if you plan to enter the SUV ownership club, you might end up waiting weeks and months and years as the waiting period is getting longer.

Even though long waiting spans now being a popular trend, the demand for SUVs, mainly in the compact segment, is still rising. The SUV sales in the domestic market have seen steady growth in the past few years and have also dethroned hatchbacks by selling over 2.33 lakh units more in the current year.

Increasing demand, supply chain crisis and limited production are among many reasons for the high waiting periods suggested by the auto dealers. Here is a list of some popular SUVs with the longest waiting periods in India in 2023:

The Tata Nexon has a waiting period of up to 5 months, while the Tata Punch has a waiting period of up to 6 months. Harrier and Safari also have a waiting period of around a month.

New models ranging from segment leaders like Hyundai, Mahindra, Maruti, Tata Motors and Kia have also increased the shift towards SUVs. In addition to this, heavy interest in a specific car and variant is also adding to the waiting periods of some vehicles.

Mahindra’s latest launch XUV400 has a waiting period of around seven months, despite the deliveries not yet starting. According to the sources, the company aims to prioritise deliveries for the higher-spec variant, starting in March.

Maruti Suzuki’s latest SUV Jimny also saw its bookings cross the 15,000 mark within a month of its launch. Therefore, at the current rate of Maruti’s production, the five-door Jimny’s waiting period could easily cross the 1-year mark.

Mahindra Thar 2WD, which was launched in India in early January, is already seeing its waiting periods extended to up to 18 months, while the 4x4 version has a waiting period of up to 3 months.

One of the reasons for the long waiting periods can also be blamed on the limited production capacity of manufacturers. Maruti, which has a bookings backlog of around 3,75,000 vehicles, manufactures only 1.5 lakh cars every month. Mahindra, on the other hand, manufactures 40,000 cars every month, which is contributing to the increase in waiting periods for new bookings.

Mahindra XUV 700 and Scorpio N, both have a waiting period of up to 1.5 years, depending on variants and trims.

The top-of-the-line variants and high-end trims also are carrying longer waiting periods because of the shortage of semiconductors and their impact on component makers.

Hyundai also claims to have received over 650 bookings for its Ioniq 5 electric crossover in India. The carmaker had planned to deliver around 300 units in a year but now has over double the bookings. This suggests that the waiting period could easily cross 1 year for the new EV.

These long waiting periods have also become a major concern for automotive manufacturers in the country as buyers are a shift to brands with minimal waiting periods.