Hyundai eyes additional positive aspects in home market with SUVs ruling the roost

Hyundai Motor India expects its SUV vary to achieve additional traction within the home market with demand for private mobility gaining momentum put up the second wave of Covid-19, in line with a senior firm official.
The firm, which already leads the SUV house with fashions like Venue, Creta, Tucson and not too long ago launched Alcazar, is seeking to keep its lead within the phase which is rising with every passing month.

“The strong trend towards SUVs continues in the domestic market. The share of SUVs in the overall passenger vehicle segment is increasing with each passing month. In July, the SUV penetration was over 37 per cent and in the January-July period it was around 36 per cent, so the trend is clearly visible,” Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) Director-Sales, Marketing, Service Tarun Garg informed PTI in an interplay.
He famous that the corporate has seen its SUV gross sales go up constantly within the home market and now its new providing Alcazar can also be serving to it shore up extra volumes.
“The manner issues are, evidently because of this shift in direction of private mobility the demand is coming again very strongly put up the second wave of the Covid-19 as was witnessed after the primary wave.
“This time around the demand is coming from both urban and rural areas. After the first wave it was mainly the rural regions which were generating the demand,” Garg mentioned.
The Hyundai Tucson is their flagship SUV. (Photo: PTI)
He mentioned that Alcazar, which was launched in June this yr, has been in a position to generate extra volumes for the corporate with out affecting offtake of Creta available in the market.
“There has hardly been any cannibalisation of Creta gross sales. So, that is necessary as a result of if we take a look at the numbers final yr for Creta we used to do round 8,000 items per thirty days and SUVs in all used to do round 15,000 items.
“In Q1 this year we have moved to over 12,500 units for Creta and the total SUV sales have gone up to 23,800 units. Further in July, the total SUV sales have crossed the 24,000 units mark,” Garg said.
Last month, Creta gross sales have been at round 13,000 items and on high of it Alcazar chipped in with about 3,000 items, he mentioned.
“So there has been no cannibalisation so far. So, we think Alcazar would be able to bring in new customers to the company fold. So, the initial trends are very very encouraging and we have received over 14,000 bookings for Alcazar so far,” Garg famous.
Over 65 per cent of the shoppers have opted for diesel trims in Alcazar, he added.
“As per our findings, Hyundai petrol customers on an average drive 10,000 kms in a year. On the other hand, diesel customers drive over 20,000 kms on an average..thus fuel efficiency becomes a very important criteria with prices going up…also the price difference is low between our petrol and diesel trims so there is a good demand for diesel variants,” Garg famous.
There are sure states like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra Punjab and Haryana, the place historically diesel autos promote extra, he added.
Elaborating on the profitable run of the corporate within the nation thus far, Garg famous that the automaker has benefited as a result of it has understood the wants of the shopper and accordingly added nation particular options to its product portfolio.
Besides, providing clients the selection of each petrol and diesel powertrains together with class main options and expertise has helped the corporate strengthen its place within the extremely aggressive market, he added.
“One trend which is clearly coming out is that the customers are really looking for feature loaded cars. They want all kinds of features in their cars because they are utilising personal vehicles to travel more and more. Earlier people used to take a flight or a train but now they prefer going by their own cars,” Garg mentioned.
He famous that the concept is to attach with the shopper. “We simply don’t convey a easy world mannequin into the nation. We actually concentrate on India-specific options and that’s what we attempt to usher in and that’s actually what helps whether or not it’s the ventilated seats and wi-fi charger.
“We brought in the Bose music system considering the importance Indians give to music while on the move. So, the point here is every which way you look at it, it is about trying to really understand the customer first and then bringing on India specific features in our cars,” Garg said.
When requested in regards to the semiconductor scarcity, he mentioned that the corporate thus far has been in a position to handle the state of affairs by carefully working with suppliers.
“Secondly, we are flexible with the production process…which gives us flexibility to really either change our production plan or introduce some trims,” Garg mentioned.
Garg mentioned the ready interval for Alcazar stood at round 8-12 weeks and for Creta much more. “We are not happy with long waiting periods and obviously want to reduce them for the customers,” he added.
On taking a worth hike to minimise the impression of rising commodity costs, Garg mentioned: “It is a cause of concern for everyone in the industry. Yes, we need to pass on to the customers. There is no way we can prevent this because the commodity prices have really really gone up.”
He, nevertheless, didn’t share particulars.