Hyundai Creta crossed the 5 lakh unit sales mark between July 2015 and August 2020 and amassed the last 1 lakh units in just 8 months
Hyundai Creta is credited as being the country’s best selling SUV. First gen was launched in July 2015 while 2nd gen was launched in Mar 2020. To date, total sales have surpassed the 6 lakh unit mark. This milestone comes at a time when Hyundai is getting ready to launch a new 7 seater premium SUV based on the Creta – Alcazar.
New Hyundai Alcazar will be launched tomorrow in India. It will be offered with a more powerful 2.0 liter petrol engine along with the same diesel engine which is on offer with the Creta. Price is expected to be about Rs 1 lakh more than Creta’s respective variants.
Creta Sales Record
Coming back to Creta’s milestone – The company has also seen exports to the tune of 2.21 lakh units to date. Of these sales, around 4 lakh units have been for diesel variants while petrol variants made up the balance sales and this trend continued even in the post BS6 period as well.
Again it was seen that the automatic transmission models were more in demand, especially among the urban segment. The past year could have seen more sales had it not been for the lockdowns and poor buyer sentiments in view of the corona virus pandemic.
What makes the Hyundai Creta such an attraction in the Indian market and the best seller month after month? Even as its first gen model received outstanding demand, the second gen Creta, launched in India on March 16, 2020, has been an equal attraction.
The Creta is priced from Rs.9.99-17.53 lakh and commands a long waiting period due to its increased demand which can extend to 8-9 months depending on variant. The company has recently revealed that demand for the Creta is 3 times that of its production capacity and hence plans are afoot to increase production so as to make more timely deliveries.
Creta Contributions to UV Segment
Going back to FY2012 when the utility vehicle segment crossed the 10 lakh unit mark for the first time, Creta sales stood at 1,20,035 units commanding 11 percent of total sales in this segment. Similar demand was seen over the next 6 years when out of 52,19,205 utility vehicles sold in the country since FY2016, Creta accounted for 6,06,743 units or 11.62 percent.
It continues to be the best selling UV, topping the sales charts each month and selling more units than each of its many competitors. Hyundai sold 7,527 units of the Creta in May 21 an increase of 134.3 percent as against 3,212 units sold in May 20. However, this was considerably less than 12,463 units sold in April 21.
Engine and Gearbox Options
The 2nd Gen Hyundai Creta receives a range of engine and gearbox options that include a 1.5 liter petrol engine making 115 hp power and 144 Nm torque mated to a 6 speed manual or CVT. The 1.4 liter turbocharged petrol engine makes 140 hp power and 242 Nm torque mated to a 7 speed dual clutch automatic transmission while the 1.5 liter turbocharged diesel engine offers 115 hp power and 250 Nm torque mated to 6 speed manual or 6 speed torque converter automatic gearbox. Demand is seen more for the top sped SX and SX(O) variants accounting for 51 percent sales and for the diesel engine powered Creta with over 60 percent share.
Despite the high demand for the Creta, Hyundai is not resting on its laurels and is working on enhancing both appeal and demand even further. The Hyundai Creta lineup is set to grow as it will soon to receive a new variant. A leaked document has shown off the new Creta SX Executive variant which will sit below second in line SX variant, on which it is based. With this new variant, the Creta is now offered in 6 variants of E, EX, S, SX Executive, SX, and SX (O). Creta facelift has also been spied recently, expecting launch next year.
