Hyundai’s Creta could help change dynamics of compact suv segment

ajit@herald-goa.com

PANJIM: The sale of automobiles in the state has been hit by several factors. The most prominent being the ban on mining which affected players across the board. Undoubtedly Maruti is the highest selling automobile maker in the state. However automobile makers are all looking at one category with much interest – the SUV segment 

The Hyundai Creta is in a market is competing with Ford Eco Sport and the Renault Duster. According to individuals in the market, the company is very focused on this segment and has already set plans to increase output to 70,000 to 80,000 next year. The SUV was launched sometime last month in the state and an executive at the Alcon Hyundai said the dealership had a hundred bookings for the SUV which had generated a positive vibe in the market.   

A manager in another dealership in the state said approximately 10-15 SUVs were usually sold in the state every month across all price ranges. Now given the depressed state of the economy, even those numbers had dropped to possibly 5 a month. These vehicles were usually purchased by those in the mining business.  

Calling it an urban SUV, he said the category would be one of the more keenly contested categories in the country because of evolving tastes. Paresh Joshi of Goa Hyundai agreed with the analysis that the market was depressed but he went on to say that it was the category that would boom in the near future. There were certain distinct trends emerging with car companies introducing car exchange schemes. 

He said “after five years generally or even earlier employees of the car company will offer you a car buy back scheme in exchange for the new car. So if the new car is priced at Rs 10 lakh and the old car is valued at Rs 2 lakh, you have to pay just Rs 8 lakh. The Rs 2 lakh is considered as down payment. In addition the loan scheme for Rs 8 lakh is very good.”  

This was confirmed by Royston Dsouza who owns a car from the Ford stable. He said “I receive calls from the company informing me that the car is 5 years old and that a car buy back scheme was available and I could buy one of their latest models”. 

Paresh said people in Goa wanted cars with a higher under carriage which was present in these cars and the Hyundai Cretta had the features which were usually available in the really high end models like BMW and Audi. This too at prices which were really affordable. According to automobile experts the country will witness the sale of 2.5 million new cars next year. This would be matched by the sale of 2.5 million used cars which would confirm that these initiatives by automobile manufacturers   were slowly paying off. 

The SUV market in Goa, Joshi said, needed a product like the Creta. The success of a product was entirely dependent on sentiment which had to change. A new product he said always had that positive effect on the market. The recent decision to resume mining was another positive sign for the market.

 Hyundai has invested approximately Rs 1000 crore in the project and according to information available in the market if the company sells around 5000 units a month this year it will be the largest selling player in the mid SUV market.  Time will tell if that happens.