BENGALURU -- In the winter of 2010, six months into his first job, Debnarayan Banerjee bought a dinky red hatchback to carry him around the bustling Indian city of Bengaluru and on weekend trips to palm-fringed beaches hundreds of kilometers away.

The space and comfort offered by SUVs are luring more buyers in India, one of the world's largest auto markets. (Nikkei montage/AP and Getty Images)
Sport utility vehicles overtake hatchbacks in accelerating auto market