Launched on March 16, 2020, the second-generation Hyundai Creta has had had a good run in the domestic market. Despite the Covid-induced loss of sales, particularly in the early part of FY2021, the midsized SUV has logged sales of 121,000 units in its first year and remains the best-selling utility vehicle in India.  

Launched at an introductory price of Rs 999,000, the new SUV which debuted at the Auto Expo 2020 is available in five engine-gearbox configurations and five trim levels.

Surging demand for the new Creta has only furthered what the first-generation Creta achieved since its launch in July 2015. Cumulatively, from July 2015 to end-January 2021, the two models have sold a total of 569,212 units comprising 190,734 petrol variants and 378,478 diesel variants, which makes for a petrol:diesel split of 34:66 percent in favour of diesel (1.5-litre US CRDI).

Interestingly, over 20 percent of sales of the new Creta have come from automatic powertrain options: 1.5L MPi Petrol (6MT/ IVT), 1.5L U2 CRDi Diesel (6MT/ 6AT) and the 1.4L Kappa Turbo GDi Petrol (7DCT).

According to Hyundai Motor India, over 51% of India sales are from the higher-spec SX and SX(O) trims and there’s over 60 % sales contribution from the 1.5-litre U2 CRDi BS6 diesel-powered variants.

The impact of the new Creta’s sales is felt on the overall UV segment’s performance in India. The UV segment is the sole one to be in positive territory in the April 2020-February 2021 period (902,951 units / 1.96% YoY). At an estimated 107,395 units sold in the first 11 months of FY2021, the new Creta accounts for nearly 12% of total UV sales in India.

Over 215,000 Cretas exported
Adding power to the Creta story is the SUV’s export performance. As per Autocar Professonal’s data analytics, a total of 215,771 Cretas have been exported till end-January 2021 (see stat table below). It also helped Hyundai regain the No. 1 exporter crown in FY2020 and looks headed to retain the numero uno passenger vehicle exporter position this fiscal too.  

Creta Exports
FY2016: 21,458 (est)
FY2017: 47,597
FY2018: 50,820
FY2019: 37,308
FY2020: 40,994
FY2021: 17,594 (April-Jan 2021)
Total: 215,771