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The country’s second largest passenger car manufacturer, Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL), on Tuesday launched its first ‘connected’ compact sports utility vehicle (SUV), Venue, priced between ₹6.5 lakh and ₹11.1 lakh (ex-showroom, across India). It has already received bookings for 15,000 units, said HMIL.
Aggressive pricing
The introductory price came as a surprise to many — it was seen as aggressive compared to rival models in the same segment, such as the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, Mahindra XUV300, Ford EcoSport and Tata Nexon.
While the introductory price of the petrol 1.2 variant of the Venue is ₹6.5-7.2 lakh, the 1.4 diesel variant is priced at ₹7.75-10.84 lakh.
It is also available with a Kappa 1.0 turbo GDi petrol engine, priced at ₹8.21-11.1 lakh (all ex-showroom, across India).
While the turbo engine variant gives a mileage of 18.27 kmpl, the 1.2 petrol variant gives 18.15 kmpl and the 1.4 diesel one, 23.7 kmpl. The top variant comes with six airbags, hill assist control, electronic stability control, cornering lamps and a rear camera with rear parking sensors.
The Venue comes with three years road-side assistance. It also offers the lowest cost of maintenance, with doorstep service facility, said HMIL. The company said out of the total bookings, 64 per cent is for the petrol version.
Global launch
Today’s rollout marks the global launch of the Venue, India being its first market. Hyundai said it has invested $100 million (over ₹690 crore) in the development of the model over four years.
Apart from India, the company will introduce the SUV in markets such as Australia, Canada and the US. The Venue comes with various India-specific connected features including a panic button for distressed situations.
Hyundai’s Blue Link technology comes with 33 artificial intelligence and connected features, of which 10 have been specially designed for the Indian market, the company said.
“Venue will be India’s first fully connected SUV, equipped with our global Blue Link connected technology. The Indian market is at the centre of Hyundai’s global growth plan, and the launch of the Venue will strengthen our commitment to the Indian market and fulfil our promise of creating a happy life for our customers,” SS Kim, MD and CEO of HMIL, said here at the launch. Equipped with many firsts and best-in-segment connectivity features, the Hyundai Venue “will become a personal sanctuary for customers”, he added.
Vikas Jain, Assistant Vice-President and National Sales Head, HMIL, said since the opening of Venue bookings on May 2, the company has received 50,000 enquiries, of which almost 30,000 were digital.
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