Hyundai to launch the Creta in India on July 21st

Hyundai is gearing up to launch its new product, the Creta compact SUV, for the Indian market on July 21st. The Korean manufacturer has advanced its launch plan to take advantage of the following festive season.

The company has realigned its production line for this vehicle and the production of the Creta is expected to begin on June 20th, which the ET reports, is almost two months ahead of its previous plans.

The company is expecting a monthly sales of 4,000 units to 5,000 units for the Creta and also a gain of 10 per cent share in the utility vehicle segment in a short span. In order to achieve this, the company also plans to launch an automatic variant of the Creta at around Rs 12 lakh, which will change the game because the next automatic SUV comes only at Rs 23 lakh.

The Creta will be offered with the 1.4-litre and 1.6-litre petrol engines while the only diesel option will be the 1.6-litre four cylinder unit from the Verna. Gearbox options are expected to include a five-speed manual and a six-speed manual sending power to the front wheels. ABS, EBD and traction are expected to be offered in the top-spec variants only.

Prices for the Creta are expected to start from Rs 8 lakh and go all the way till Rs 12 lakh. Once launched, the Creta will compete with the Renault Duster, Ford EcoSport and Nissan Terrano. "It is a conscious change in strategy by the company.

Such a move to advance the launch of a new vehicle is not new for Hyundai. In the past, it proved successful with the launch of Grand i10 last year, when the company was able to soak up the demand of customers in South India on account of Onam festival and Ganesh Chaturti in Western India, which otherwise would have benefited rival carmakers. We did it in the past, we hope to do the same with Creta," said Rakesh Srivastava, senior VP, sales and marketing, Hyundai India.