Hyundai could be looking to introduce a new entry-level car that sits below the Santro to rival the Kwid and the Espresso and it could follow the Espresso’s line of being styled like an SUV.
Hyundai India’s entry-level car starts from the Santro and extends up to the Grand i10 and the Grand i10 Nios. The Korean manufacturer however does not have anything below the Santro currently. Hyundai’s biggest rival in India, Maruti Suzuki, has however had quite some success with cars below the segment of the Santro. That includes the likes of the Alto and the Espresso, with the latter particularly being a great seller in recent times. But the car that really set this segment going was the Renault Kwid.
We all have seen what great fortunes the Kwid has brought to Renault. It was launched back in 2015 and by June last year, Renault had already crossed the 3 lakh production milestone for the Kwid. Although this segment hasn’t really grown by much, there’s still a strong demand and that really shows in the case of the Kwid and the Espresso. The point we are trying to get here to is that Hyundai too is now eyeing this space to exploit the strong demand in this segment.
In an interview with carandbike, Tarun Garg, Director – Sales, Marketing for Hyundai Motor India, said, “We are very well covered in the entry level segment. There’s the Santro, Nios And the Grand i10 but if you see, this segment hasn’t really grown over the past few years, but this is quite the segment when it comes to volume, so the importance is very much there. Many first time buyers in this segment and it’s a handy tool to really get these first timers on board and give them a great Hyundai experience, so that they can then move to the next segment. So, we will look at all opportunities, and we understand that the SUV styling in the entry level segment is something that the OEMs has tried it here in India. The response has been mixed, and we have to still study it more to take a decision on that.”
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Currently, the obsession with SUVs in the country is going nowhere. If Hyundai at all plans to come out with a new entry-level car, will it be styled on the lines of an SUV, much like the Maruti Suzuki Espresso? The Renault Kwid hasn’t strayed from that trend either. We have seen rugged bumpers, decals, roof-rails and several other SUV styling elements being thrown at the Kwid. And it has worked quite well indeed. In fact, Hyundai has had an entry-level car that somewhat sits below the Santro – the Eon – for a long time on sale in India, right from 2011 to 2019.
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It is only currently that the Santro is spearheading Hyundai’s entry-level car segment, followed by the Grand i10 and the Nios. So coming back with a product in this segment is sure a possibility and Hyundai very well knows how to make it work as well. Hyundai has also kept a diesel engine alive in its entry-level car segment with the diesel variants of the Grand i10 Nios and there’s still very good demand for it as well. There’s still some time before Hyundai takes some decisions on this but there certainly is a lot of potential to be exploited, the benefits of which Maruti Suzuki and Renault have been reaping quite well. It could also help Hyundai to expand their market share in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities.
