New 2020 Hyundai Creta is currently the best selling SUV in India
The 2020 Hyundai Creta has received a tremendous response from the customers. The SUV has been selling like hot cakes since its launch. The sales numbers are currently restricted to the 10-14K units mark, only because of production related constraints and not by demand related factors.
Interestingly, the top-end petrol variant of the Creta has been receiving significant demand, possibly more than what Hyundai would have envisaged earlier. Customers who have booked the SX(O) IVT variant have started to receive messages from their dealers stating that the waiting period could possibly extend up to 10 months from the date of booking.
Advaith Hyundai
One of the customer of Advaith Hyundai, a Bangalore based Hyundai dealership has confirmed that the dealership has shared that the tentative waiting period for the chosen top-end Creta will be around 10 months. After an initial round of checks with dealers across multiple cities, we could gather that the waiting period is varying from dealer to dealer.
Some of the dealerships are quoting a relatively smaller waiting period of around 5 months or so. However, with the rising demand, it seems that the waiting period is dynamic and could go up depending upon the rising booking numbers.
Creta under strict allocation
Hyundai dealerships are getting limited units of the Creta at the moment. Hyundai has over 1,000 dealer touch-points across India. Not all dealers get equal allocation. But on average, per dealer’s monthly allocation is about 10-15 units, which is quite low – considering the huge demand for Creta. And it is not always guaranteed which variant and colour option comes to the dealer from the company.
Most of the time it is as per order book. But because of huge demand, dealers are ready to take whatever variant / colour comes their way from the company plant. This results in higher waiting periods, especially for those, who are looking for a particular colour / variant combination which is more in demand.
Reducing Waiting Period
In such situations, it is quite possible that a particular dealer has higher booking for a particular variant, and thus has quoted a higher waiting period while another dealer in the same city could possibly offer the same variant at a lesser waiting period. It is always a good idea to check with all dealers in your city to get the least possible waiting period for your new car.
While waiting periods are something which marketing teams can boast of; in terms of sales, excessively long waiting periods aren’t usually considered as a blessing. Long waiting periods also become a deterrent for interested buyers and usually work in favour of other competitors of the product. In Creta’s case, customers might want to shift towards Creta’s South Korean cousin, the Seltos or other rivals like the Harrier, or the MG Hector.
In related news, Hyundai has also started to test the 7-seater variant of the Creta in India. It is expected to be launched in the country in H2’21.
