The second-gen Hyundai Creta made its debut in the most unforeseen of circumstances. The model was launched in India on March 18, 2020, just three days before the COVID-19-linked nationwide lockdown was implemented. Sales data has revealed that Hyundai managed to dispatch 6,703 units of the Creta over March 2020. In effect, buyers making fresh bookings could be in store for a long wait for delivery. At the time of launch the company received 14,000 booking and had announced a waiting period of up to eight weeks.
The new Creta comes priced between Rs 9.99-17.20 lakh (introductory, ex-showroom) and is available with five engine-gearbox combinations. On offer is a 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol, a 1.5-litre diesel and a 1.4-litre turbo-petrol. The 1.5 petrol and diesel come paired with a 6-speed manual as standard though each engine gets its own automatic gearbox – CVT for the petrol and torque converter for the diesel. The turbo-petrol is available with a DCT as standard. Interestingly, Hyundai has witnessed near-equal demand for the petrol and diesel Cretas. The turbo-petrol models and automatic variants are the ones garnering the most interest from prospective customers.
With the new Creta, Hyundai is hoping to regain the numero uno position in the midsize SUV segment and the Kia Seltos is the SUV to beat. While the dispatch numbers in a month that witnessed a lockdown might not be representative, the Seltos did have the edge with 7,466 units sold versus the Creta’s 6,703-unit sales figure. However, the true picture of this competition will only emerge when order is restored in the Indian automotive space.
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