The Indian automobile market is riding an SUV wave and how. Two days after our sister publication Autocar Professional revealed that the Vitara Brezza – Maruti Suzuki’s first compact SUV – had crossed the one lakh unit sales landmark within a year of its launch, Hyundai Motor India’s Creta has notched up a milestone of its own.
Having clocked its highest-ever monthly sales of 9,002 units in February 2017, the Hyundai Creta has driven past the 1.5 lakh unit sales in the domestic market 21 months after it was launched, averaging sales of 7,177 units every month.
The Creta is available with a choice of a petrol (123hp, 1.6L) and two diesel (90hp, 1.4L / 128hp, 1.6L) engines.
Within eight months of its official launch on July 23, 2015, the Creta had received over one lakh bookings and a waiting period of up to 10 months, enough to make Hyundai ramp up capacity by 30 percent for the model. To mark Creta’s first anniversary, Hyundai rolled out a limited-run First Anniversary Edition as well as newer variants, including a petrol automatic and a more affordable diesel automatic to further bolster its position as one of the bestselling SUVs in the country.
With its stellar sales performance, the Creta also became the second most sold UV in India in 2015-16 after the Mahindra Bolero, which ended the fiscal with sales of 67,484 units. Out of Hyundai's total 64,796 UVs sold, the Creta accounted for 63,836 units in 2015-16, helping the Korean carmaker overtake Ford India, Renault India and Tata Motors.
Hyundai set to record best sales in a fiscal
As Hyundai Motor India completes two decades, it is now eyeing speedier growth in the domestic market. The company, which sold 4.84 lakh units in 2015-16 and had a market share of 17.36 percent at the time – its highest yet – is looking to cross the sales milestone of five lakh units in the current fiscal.
With just the month to go for the end of the fiscal year, Hyundai is well placed to cross its sales target. For the 11-month period of April 2016-February 2017, the company has sold a total of 4,64,948 units. This means it needs sales of 35,052 units in March 2017 alone to reach its target as well as record its best sales in India.
The manner in which the Creta is selling, Hyundai is well on its way to clock a new high. Stay tuned for further updates.
Dipan Sur
Viraaj Bhatnagar
Suraj Viswanathan
