Increased deliveries to Hyundai dealers in June sees the Creta taken the Brezza’s crown. Will it maintain this position in the coming months?
16 Jul 2018 | 10173 Views | By Mayank Dhingra
Utility vehicles have charmed the Indian car buyer, be it young enthusiasts, or HNIs looking for a status symbol in their gateway, like no other. In April and May 2018, UVs had lost out to passenger cars owing to their fuel efficiency advantage amidst surging fuel prices, but UVs have regained their sheen, garnering substantial volumes in June.
Of the total 273,759 PVs sold last month, UVs garnered cumulative sales of 73,654 units, posting smart growth of 47.11 percent. What came as a surprise though is that the segment king Maruti Vitara Brezza was dethroned, bringing a pause to its uninterrupted rally of leading the charts for almost two years. While the Creta instantly became a segment best-seller after getting introduced in July 2015, it went on to continue its run until three months even after the Brezza’s launch in March 2016, when the Maruti finally announced its arrival and outsold the Creta in July 2016.
Hyundai Creta, the midsize crossover from the Korean carmaker, clinched the top spot in June, with overall sales touching 11,111 units, up from the 6,436 units it had sold in June 2017. This marks handsome year-on-year growth of 72.63 percent. Interestingly, Hyundai had just given a mid-life update to the Creta in May, bringing a host of external styling tweaks such as a new grille, revised bumpers, headlamps, tail lamps, alloy wheels and also including a sunroof. On the inside, the Creta now offers an electronically adjustable driver’s seat, along with getting a wireless smartphone charging pad. The Creta has tremendously helped Hyundai augment its UV market share, which has grown to currently stand at 13.63 percent between April and June 2018 with overall sales touching 32,022 units, where the market share in the same period in 2017 was pegged at 12.76 percent.
At No. 2, the Maruti Vitara Brezza is slightly behind the Creta, selling 10,713 units in the month (June 2017: 8,293), up 29 percent YoY, but not enough to prevent the Creta from taking top spot. The popular crossover has been one of the growth drivers for the company’s UV market share, which today stands at over 28 percent, with cumulative sales of 65,754 units, clocked between April and June 2018. Like the Creta, the Brezza too has recently been given an update, with Maruti introducing the facelift avatar of the model, bringing in some aesthetic tweaks, as well as giving it the option of an AMT and making safety kit as standard onboard.
The Toyota Innova Crysta, which secures the third position, went home to 6,426 buyers (June 2017: 1,068). While it was not at all a party to the tally in 2017, due to low sales as a result of the impending GST implementation from July, its popularity in the Indian market has made it secure its righteous spot in the list this year. The MPV has been able to command a premium for offering unmatched comfort and convenience in the people-mover space, making it a hit with private and fleet buyers alike.
Coming in at the No. 4 spot, the Mahindra Bolero clocks sales of 6,229 units, maintaining its sales trend which stood at 6,290 units in June 2017. What has contributed to the Bolero’s handsome numbers has been the onset of a good monsoon across the country, which has energised demand from rural and suburban towns.
Closing the Top 5 UV tally for June 2018, the Maruti Ertiga sold a total of 4,311 units, down 12 percent over June 2017 when it sold 4,895 units. The Ertiga, offering a diesel, petrol as well as a CNG fuel option, is due for a generational change very soon, and the company is expected to introduce the new model sometime in August this year.
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