It was the Mahindra XUV 500 which was the initial trigger for the thought process on the Creta. This was the time Hyundai noticed that there was a growing momentum in the Indian market for SUVs. The reaction to the Renault Duster which followed soon thereafter only reinforced this opinion as customers make a beeline for the product.
Work on the Creta kicked off nearly three years ago with Hyundai’s R&D teams from Korea, Hyderabad and Chennai coming together for this important initiative. The Hyundai Marketing Lab was created as a taskforce to work around the launch of the Creta. The team carried out research along with counterparts in product planning, service, R&D and production.
For Hyundai, the top priority was to create a product that would be disruptive and set a new benchmark in the SUV space. It had to be aggressive, spacious and comfortable with a strong road presence.
Among the important decisions taken was to dispense with the sub-four metre reference point just to capitalise on lower excise duty.
The company was clear in its thinking that the Creta had to be a product that would break away from traditional thinking on SUVs. The goal was simple: it had to be really strong outside and comfortable within. Hyundai’s research showed that SUVs in general were perceived to be rough, noisy, masculine and not entirely comfortable.
“From our point of view, an SUV did not have to just be rugged but strong and beautiful too,” adds Srivastava. It would have to catch the eye of other road users and create a sense of aspiration in the process. Market research for the Creta also showed that women accounted for a fair share of SUV users in India. It was important to address their needs too and this is where the automatic version was added to the lineup.
The Creta will be launched in the third week of this month and Srivastava is confident that it will do the trick in attracting customers by the droves.
Going by Hyundai’s aggressive track record in pricing, this SUV will be no exception to the rule as it prepares to carve a niche for itself.
On the radar are rival models like the Duster, Scorpio and EcoSport as well as sedans in the ₹8-12 lakh price range.
Sweetening the deal As part of the goodies basket for the Creta, Hyundai will offer a three-year unlimited warranty while focusing on extensive training to 4,000 sales consultants in two phases. There will be regional launches in malls to attract buyers and spread the word. Mahindra & Mahindra has been the leader of the SUV space for many years now and its Bolero is the country’s single largest selling model with monthly numbers averaging 9,000 units. However, industry experts believe the Creta has the potential to wean away buyers even as M&M is preparing to launch its own compact SUVs during the course of this fiscal.
Globally, Hyundai (along with Kia) is the fifth largest automaker with sales exceeding eight million units annually. Its growth over the years has been rapid with inroads made into key markets like Europe and the US. “Across the world, Hyundai is connecting with the young buyer who is modern and on the lookout for premium vehicles,” says Srivastava.
India accounts for nearly 14.5 per cent of the company’s total sales and is also an important export hub with shipments to over 100 countries. When Hyundai first entered this market in the late-1990s, not too many people were aware of this Korean brand. Rival carmakers became a lot more vigilant when the Santro was launched in ’98 and emerged the first serious rival to Maruti in the compact car segment. Over the years, Hyundai has pushed the envelope constantly with products like the Eon, Grand i10, Elite i20 and Xcent. The Creta marks yet another important chapter for the Korean automaker in its India journey.