Hyundai to deck up showrooms

Customer preferences have changed dramatically in the Indian market in recent years with a better purchasing power allowing the Rs. 10 lakh and above segments to flourish quite well. Keeping up with these niche set of customers, Hyundai India is planning to deck up its showrooms across the country as it intends to offer a premium experience to the future set of customers. As per Hyundai’s Global Dealership Space Identity (GDSI), the automaker will be refurbishing all its 415 dealerships in the country by 2017-18.

Hyundai has already commenced changing its dealership theme from the current blue to a more sober brown shade while the manufacturer is also providing financial support package to its dealers in a bid to cover costs of the refurbishment that could escalate to almost Rs. 1 crore. Senior executives at the company have stated that apart from new colour schemes, the dealership revamp will also include the development of open space, modern furnishings and additional tech wizardry to deliver an elevated experience to the customer.

Hyundai India’s customers today are not only younger but also seek a richer touch-and-feel experience when upgrading to bigger cars. The automaker’s new Elite i20 premium hatchback is having a fabulous run on the sales chart and the manufacturer has several new launches in the Rs. 10+ lakh space planned in the future. Once known for its small cars, Hyundai now comes with a range of premium offerings and is looking to tap the premium car market that grew by 20 percent to around 2 lakh units; almost 5 times the sales growth of the domestic car market in the 2014-15 financial year.

Apart from Hyundai, Maruti Suzuki too is the newest entrant in the premium car market and has also been working to launch premium ‘Nexa’ showrooms in the country to retail its newest products. The Alto maker wants to shed its small car image and be known for smartly designed vehicles instead like the upcoming Across (S-Cross in other markets) that will be competing in the compact SUV segment. Speaking of showroom revamps, Renault India has been working on its ‘digital dealership experience centres’ that will be taking the car buying experience to a virtual level with physically displayed cars being replaced by large television screens at the dealership.