Hyundai Motor India sells best-ever 605,000 units in CY2024, Creta powers SUV share to 67%

CY2024 has turned out to be the second year in a row that Hyundai Motor India has registered record wholesales of passenger vehicles. At 605,429 units, the year-on-year growth is less than 1% (0.6%), considerably slower than the 9% it posted in CY2023 (602,111 units), a year which marked the first time that Hyundai surpassed the 600,000-units milestone in the domestic market.

On the export front, exports of made-in-India Hyundai passenger vehicles at 158,686 units were down 3% (CY20023: 163,675 units). Cumulative domestic and export sales add up to 764,115 units, down by 0.21% (CY2023: 765,786 units). Hyundai, like Maruti Suzuki India, has seen tepid domestic market demand in CY2024. The car and SUV manufacturer’s best month in 2024 was January (57,115 units, up 14%) followed by the festival month of October (55,568 units). However, as the 12-month sales table reveals, the company witnessed its numbers decline for five months – July, August, September, November and December.

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). The company has, in mid-2024, pulled out the all-electric Kona from the market.

SUVs and new Creta the growth drivers for Hyundai in CY2024
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.

The rapid pace of demand for the new Creta, launched in January 2024, has meant that the new Creta cruised to 100,000-unit sales in just six months. This makes 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.

According to the company, the contribution of its SUV portfolio was the highest yet in CY2024 – 67.6% – which works out to around 409,270 units. The launch of the Creta EV in early 2025 will add new verve to India’s best-selling midsize SUV.

While the model-wise sales splits for December 2024 (other than the Creta) are not yet available, the Venue (107,554 units) and the Exter (79,098 units) were the No. 2 and No. 3 best-sellers in the first 11 months of CY2024 and accounted for 33% of the 563,221 passenger vehicles Hyundai sold.

The No. 4 and No. 5 toppers for Hyundai in January-November 2024 are the two hatchbacks – Grand i10 (56,531 units) and i20 Elite (56,609 units) – followed by the Aura compact sedan (51,286 units) and the new Verna sedan (16,241 units).  While the Tucson SUV has sold 1,510 units, the all-electric Ioniq 5 clocked 504 units in the first 11 months of 2024.