Hyundai gears up for global launch of Creta in India

Korean automaker Hyundai Motor India has said it expects an over 1% increase in its marketshare in the domestic industry, post the launch of its maiden compact SUV Creta in the second half of next month.

Based loosely on ix25 in China, the car will see its global debut in india and will be exported from here to other parts of the world. Hyundai has invested ₹ 1,000 crore towards development of the model and believes it will help spur a turnaround in the SUV market, which has declined by nearly 6% in the first five months this year.

"I hope we will be able to gain more than 1% marketshare with the Creta," said BS Seo, MD and CEO, Hyundai Motor India. "We have enough capacity at our factories for the Creta, but we are looking at a third factory very closely."

The company sold 420,668 units in the domestic market in 2014-15, up 10.6% over the previous year. Its marketshare improved to 16.2% over 15.2% during the period. Its last three major launches in the domestic market - Grand i10, Xcent and Elite i20 — have all been successes.

"With Creta, we are confident of not only bringing volume to Hyundai but also turning around the SUV segment," said Rakesh Srivastava, senior vice-president, marketing and sales, HMIL.

The vehicle that will go head to head with Ford EcoSport and Renault Duster, will be offered with a 1.6 litre petrol, and 1.4 litre and 1.6 litre diesel engines. It will not have an all-wheel drive version.