Hyundai working on sub 4m SUV for Indian market
Hyundai Cars
Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) witnessed an overwhelming response for its SUV model, the Creta, in India. The Creta has clocked up to 1 lakh bookings, out of which 75,000 units were booked just in India. The Creta was also awarded the Indian Car of The Year 2016. This response seems to have leveraged the confidence of the car maker that now has plans to build its SUV range. Currently, Hyundai is reportedly working on developing a sub 4 metre SUV that will compete against the Mahindra TUV300 and upcoming compact sedan in India. Hyundai revealed this information during the launch of the Creta in Delhi on July 21, 2015.
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While the new car, which is internally referred to as ‘IP’, will be competing against the likes of M
aruti Suzuki Ertiga and Honda Mobilio, this sub-compact SUV will be placed below the Creta with arch rivals like Ford EcoSport and the upcoming Mahindra U301. The vehicle will be built on a low-cost new platform that will be sourcing some of its parts from the Creta and the Grand i10. The same platform might also be used as the platform for other upcoming Hyundai cars in India in future. Though there is no information regarding the engine options that the car will feature, Hyundai has got plans to use its smaller engines – the 1.2 litre kappa2 petrol, 1.4 litre CRDi diesel and 1.4 litre VTVT motors. The option of an automatic gearbox is also likely to be offered.
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There are no reports about the design of the vehicle as well, but the design might be influenced by Hyundai’s evolved 2.0 Fluidic design language which is being implemented on most of its new generation vehicles including the i20, Creta and others.
The sub 4 metre SUV is likely to be priced between INR 7.5 lakh and Rs 9.5 lakh, with the intent of making the most of the government imposed rule of tax benefits for sub 4 metre vehicles.
The Korean car maker, Hyundai, has also got plans to bring in the new Sonata and new generation of the Hyundai Elantra apart from the face lifted and upgraded models of some of its existing cars.