Five SUVs alone account for nearly two in every five used SUVs sold through one of India’s largest organised resale platforms. The Hyundai Creta, Ford EcoSport, Tata Nexon, Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza and Mahindra XUV500 together take 39% of sales, and the Creta alone accounts for 9.7%, the largest share of any single model.
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Best-Selling Used SUVs in India
India’s SUV segment has been on an upward run in the new car market for years now, and that shift has followed through into resale. Buyers who once settled for a hatchback are increasingly willing to stretch their budget for the extra ground clearance, road presence, and cabin space an SUV offers, even second-hand. What’s notable is how few models actually capture most of that demand. The same five names keep showing up near the top of used SUV sales, and each one got there for a slightly different reason.
These figures come from Cars24’s internal transaction data, covering the best-selling used SUVs. Within that dataset, Mahindra holds the largest brand-level share of the used SUV market at 20%, ahead of Hyundai at 15.5% and Tata at 12.7%. Maruti Suzuki, Ford, and Kia round out the rest at 10.7%, 9.2%, and 7.2%, respectively. Manual transmissions still dominate across the board, too, with automatics accounting for 25.4% of used SUV sales overall.
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Which used SUVs sell the most, and why?
Hyundai Creta
Topping the individual model list is the Hyundai Creta at 9.7%, the single largest share of any used SUV. Its spacious cabin, long feature list, and Hyundai’s strong resale reputation have made it a default choice for families moving up from a hatchback or sedan. It’s also offered with petrol, diesel, and turbo-petrol engines, one of the widest engine choices on this list. Three in four used Cretas sold in 2026 were manual variants.
Ford EcoSport
Just behind it, at 8.7%, is the Ford EcoSport, a car Ford stopped selling new in India in 2021. Its compact footprint and above-average ground clearance made it an early favourite for city driving, and that reputation has outlasted the brand’s exit from the country. Anyone specifically hunting for a used Ford EcoSport will find manual variants make up the vast majority of listings, at 84.5% of all EcoSport sales in 2026.
Tata Nexon
The Tata Nexon holds 7.5%, helped along by Tata’s expanding dealer network and the Nexon’s reputation for safety and ground clearance. At 209 mm, it has one of the taller stances in this segment, which matters to buyers dealing with poor roads or frequent speed breakers. Tata has also grown its service footprint nationwide in recent years. Manual variants still lead here too, at 70.3% of used Nexon sales.
Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza
Maruti’s dealer reach, and the model’s reputation for low running costs help explain why the Vitara Brezza takes 6.7% of used SUV sales. It’s a compact SUV in the truest sense, one of the easiest on this list to park and manoeuvre in dense traffic, which is part of its appeal for buyers who want SUV looks without SUV bulk. Manual variants make up an even larger share here than with the Creta or EcoSport: 89% of used Vitara Brezza buyers in 2026 chose a manual gearbox over the automatic.
Mahindra XUV500
Rounding out the list at 6.4% is the Mahindra XUV500, a model Mahindra discontinued in 2021 in favour of the XUV700. Its continued presence here, years after being replaced, says something about how differently the used market values a proven, spacious seven-seater compared to buyers shopping new. Manual variants dominate here too, accounting for 87.9% of used XUV500 sales.
What do these five SUVs have in common?
Looked at together, four of the five here are compact to mid-size SUVs built around low running costs rather than outright luxury, and even the XUV500, the largest of the group, has built its reputation on being tough and easy to live with rather than plush. Manual transmissions dominate every single model on this list, which says as much about price sensitivity as it does about buyer preference. None of these five is the newest option in their categories, and that’s arguably the point: buyers here are backing models that have already proven themselves over years of real-world use.
