One of the big beneficiaries of the GST cut in new vehicle prices is the ultra-competitive compact SUV segment, whose newest models include the Skoda Kylaq and the Kia Syros which entered the market in January 2025. Eight months down the line, these two models’ combined wholesales at 55,703 units account for a 6% share of the estimated 892,057 compact SUVs which 11 OEMs have dispatched to their dealers across India between January and August this year.
The compact SUV sub-segment, which has all of 21 models vying for a slice and more of the action, is an extremely competitive one and accounts for the bulk of the utility vehicle (UV) wholesales in India. Between January and August 2025, the overall UV segment is estimated to have registered factory dispatches of 1.85 million units. This effectively translates into the compact SUV category having a 48% share of total UV sales in the year to date, with the balance 52% share accounted for by the midsize SUV and MPV sub-segments.
This performance is similar to FY2025 when 13,83,334 compact SUVs were sold (up 10% YoY), giving them a 49% share of the record 27,97,229 UVs sold last fiscal. The share of compact SUVs is expected to grow higher when the official wholesales numbers for September 2025 – the first month in which reduced-GST prices kicked in – are released in mid-October.
The Skoda Kylaq with 30,190 units has sold 4,677 units more than the Kia Syros in the first eight months of CY2025.
Let’s take a closer look at how the Skoda Kylaq and the Kia Syros, the two newest compact SUVs in the Indian market, have fared.
SKODA KYLAQ: 30,190 units, 65% share of Skoda India sales in January-August 2025
The Kylaq, Skoda India’s vehicle of entry into the booming compact SUV market, has received a massively strong customer response. So much so that from February 2025 onwards, it has become the company’s best-selling locally produced vehicle, ahead of the Slavia sedan and Kushaq SUV.
In the first eight months of this year, the Kylaq has sold 30,190 units which gives it a 65% share of the 46,720 Skoda vehicles sold. The Kylaq’s best month to date was March 2025 (5,364 units).As the 8-month wholesales data table above depicts, the Kylaq’s sales have jumped 32% quarter on quarter – from January-March’s 10,205 units to April-June’s 13,509 units. Sales in July-August were 6,476 units.
At 30,190 units, the Kylaq is way ahead of the other Skoda products – Slavia (8,654 units, 19% share), Kushaq (7,212 units, 15% share), Kodiaq (659 units, 1.41% share) and Superb (5 units) and has re-energised company in the SUV segment.
The most dynamically sorted compact SUV, as Autocar India calls it, the Kylaq’s highlights are space, performance and handling. The Kylaq is a high-on-quality product that straddles multiple segments – it competes against premium hatchbacks, compact SUVs, and compact sedans, targeting customers looking at a do-it-all family car with top-notch driving dynamics and safety features.
Sold with only a 1.0-litre turbo-petrol engine, which develops 115hp and 178 Nm of torque and mated with manual and automatic transmissions, the Kylaq has a top speed of 188kph. On the fuel efficiency front, it delivers 19.05kpl in the city and 19.68kpl on the highway.
Aggressive pricing has been a key factor for the success of the seven-variant Kylaq which now, after the GST cut, has an ex-showroom price starting from Rs 754,651 through to Rs 12.80 lakh. Following the 10% GST reduction to 18%, the Kylaq’s price stands reduced by up to Rs 119,295.
The Skoda Kylaq, which rolls out of the company’s Chakan plant in Pune, shares its MQB-AO-IN platform with not only sibling Kushaq but also the Volkswagen Taigun and Virtus. This compact SUV has good space for four passengers and comes with features like a 10-inch infotainment screen, a sunroof, and electrically adjustable front seats. The Kylaq has a long list of safety features including six airbags, which are standard on all variants.
The Skoda Kylaq has the distinction of being the best-performing compact SUV in Bharat NCAP test thus far. The five-star rated model scored 30.88 out of 32 in Adult Occupant Protection and 45 out of 49 points in Child Occupant Protection.Bullish on accelerated demand for the Kylaq coming its way and having ramped up production capacity, Skoda India expects Kylaq sales to hit the 8,000-unit monthly mark by the end of CY2025.
KIA SYROS: 25,513 units, 14% share of Kia India sales in January-August 2025
The five-seater Syros, with cumulative eight-month sales of 25,513 units, has a 14% share of Kia India’s 183,882 utility vehicles sold between January-August 2025. This constitutes a drop of 4 percentage basis points versus the Syros’ first three months’ 15,986 units, which gave it a 21% share of the company’s 75,576 UVs sold in January-March 2025.
Following three straight months of over 5,000-unit sales, dispatches dropped to 4,000 units in April, 3,611 units in May, 774 units in June, 834 units in July and 308 units in August. While the August factory despatches will be a restricted number due to the wait for clarity on the GST revision, expect Syros numbers to have risen in September.
For the first eight months of CY2025, the Syros (25,513 units and a 14% model-wise share) is ranked fourth in Kia India’s seven-model portfolio after the Sonet (60,645 units, 33% share), Carens (48,480 units, 26% share), Seltos (47,580 units, 26% share), and ahead of the Carnival (1,014 units, 0.61% share), EV6 (520 units., 0.18%) and EV9 (18 units).The Syros’ ex-showroom price for the 13-variant range is from Rs 760,000 to Rs 15.90 lakh, after factoring the new GST reduction which has made the Syros cheaper by up to Rs 186,000.
The Syros is sold in four standard trim levels and two option trims – HTK, HTK (O), HTK+, HTX, and HTX+, HTX+(O) – paired with manual and automatic transmissions. Kia’s newest SUV for India has two engine options: a 1.0-litre turbo petrol which develops maximum power of 120 hp and 172 Nm of torque, and a 1.5-litre CRDi diesel with 116hp and 250 Nm of torque.The Kia Syros has a claimed mileage of 18.2kpl for the petrol MT and 17.68kpl for petrol AT; for diesel variants, the mileage goes up to 20.75kpl for the MT and 17.65kpl for the AT.
In April this year, the Kia Syros won a 5-star safety rating in the Bharat NCAP crash test for both adult occupant protection (AOP) and child occupant protection (COP). The Syros scored 30.21 out of 32 points in AOP and 44.42 out of 49 in COP. This makes it Kia India’s first model to get a 5-star safety rating in a crash test by either BNCAP or Global NCAP.
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