New Hyundai Creta turns a year old, set to hit 200,000 sales soon

The new Hyundai Creta, which was launched in India on January 16, 2024, has turned a year old today. The popular model, which is India’s best-selling midsize SUV, registered wholesales of 186,919 units in CY2024, up 19% YoY (CY2023: 157,311 units), was instrumental in enabling Hyundai Motor India to achieve its best-ever annual sales of 605,429 units last year.

The new Creta needs to sell another 13,081 units to hit the 200,000 milestone

As the 12-month sales data table above depicts, the rapid pace of demand for the newest Hyundai SUV immediately after launch meant that the new Creta cruised to 100,000-unit sales in just six months. This made it the fastest in its segment to hit the 100,000 milestone and in half the time the Maruti Grand Vitara took. In the January-December 2024 period, the Creta with 186,919 units was the best-selling Hyundai product and accounted for 31% of overall PV sales for the company.

If Hyundai Motor India maintains the monthly wholesales average of 15,185 units in Q4 CY2024 (October-December 2024) in January 2025, then the new Creta, which currently is 13,081 units shy of 200,000 units, will surpass the milestone in the domestic market this month. However, it is also likely that the soon-to-be-launched Creta Electric could take away some of the ICE Creta’s sales, which would mean the 200,000 milestone will come up in February, 14 months after launch. Nevertheless, the new Creta will set a new record for midsize SUV sales because the Maruti Grand Vitara took 22 months to hit the 200,000-units mark.

The new Creta, which is India’s best-selling midsize SUV, and the Venue and Exter compact SUVs continue to be the growth drivers for Hyundai. 

SUVs AND NEW CRETA THE GROWTH DRIVERS FOR HYUNDAI IN CY2024
SUVs continue to provide the bulk of the sales for Hyundai Motor India which retails 10 models in India — two hatchbacks (Grand i10 Nios, i20), two sedans (Aura, Verna) and six SUVs (Creta, Venue, Alcazar, Exter, and Tucson along with the all-electric Ioniq 5). In mid-2024, the company had pulled out the all-electric Kona from the market.

As they are with other OEMs, compact SUVs continue to be key growth drivers for Hyundai. The new Creta, which is India’s best-selling midsize SUV, and the Venue and Exter compact SUVs continue to be the growth drivers.

According to the company, the contribution of its SUV portfolio was the highest yet in CY2024 – 67.6 percent. They are led by the Creta (186,919 units), Venue (117,819 units), Exter (84,368 units), Alcazar (17,664 units), Tucson (1,543 units), all-electric Ioniq 5 (528 units) and the now-discontinued Kona EV (259 units).

NEW CRETA ELECTRIC TO GIVE FRESH CHARGE TO CRETA SALES
The launch of the new Hyundai Creta Electric at the Bharat Mobility Global Expo on January 17 is one of the most-awaited events of the new year. While most of the exterior and interior of the zero-emission Creta remains unchanged from its ICE-powered sibling, what will interest potential buyers will be the ARAI-claimed range of 473km.

The Creta Electric will be offered with two battery pack options – 42kWh and 51.4kWh battery – returning an ARAI-claimed range of 390km and 473km, respectively. Hyundai Motor India claims the Creta Electric (Long range) can sprint from 0 to 100kph in 7.9 seconds. The Creta Electric will have three drive modes – Eco, Normal and Sport. It also gets a steering column-mounted drive mode selector, much like the Ioniq 5. It also features single pedal driving which Hyundai terms ‘i-Pedal technology’. Hyundai claims the Creta Electric can charge from 10 percent to 80% in just 58 minutes (DC charging), while the 11kW AC wall box charger can charge from 10% to 100% in 4 hours.

The Hyundai Creta Electric will compete against the Maruti e Vitara and the Mahindra BE 6 SUVs, and will also rival the Tata Curvv EV. The key difference between the Hyundai EV and the Maruti and Mahindra EVs is the Creta Electric is an adaptation of an ICE platform while the two rival EVs have been spawned off a born-electric platform.
(Inputs on Creta Electric by Saptarshi Mondal, Autocar India)

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