“The customer is moving towards SUVs”

“January to May, SUVs contributed 35 per cent to the overall industry,” says Tarun Garg, director, sales and marketing, Hyundai Motor India on the sidelines of the Hyundai Alcazar launch while adding, “SUVs will be driving the growth back”

- SIRISH CHANDRAN

We already received 4500 bookings

“We just started bookings about 10-11 days back. The best part is that it’s a very balanced response. We did not have any base trim, we have the Prestige, Platinum and Signature and every trim has a sunroof, 10.25-inch infotainment system, safety features, LED headlamps and more. Diesel accounts for 55 per cent of the bookings, petrol for 45 per cent, so it is very balanced. In terms of gearbox, half the bookings are for the manual transmission and the rest for automatic. Again very balanced. In terms of seating configuration, 60 per cent bookings are for the six-seater variants and 40 per cent for the seven-seater.”

Petrol engine is imported but diesel is localised

“Customer feedback was that they are looking for a more powerful petrol engine. We have this third-generation, two-litre petrol, which gives the best-in-class power and is extremely fuel-efficient as well, especially when you compare it with the other models on offer. Based on the feedback on the Creta, the customer is still interested in cubic capacity, because, it is the psychology of the customer that the bigger engine probably gives him more power. Turbo is catching up but we have to just see which engine probably could be suited for which vehicle. We have various options, and we thought that probably going for the 2-litre petrol here alongside the 1.5 diesel could be a very good strategy for Alcazar and the initial customer response has been spot on.