Hyundai becomes India’s top SUV seller, wins Indian Car of the Year Award

Hyundai Motor Group’s small and compact sport utility vehicles (SUVs) are posting strong sales in fast-growing economies including India and Russia.

According to industry data, Hyundai Motor Co.’s Creta was the top-selling SUV and the seventh-highest seller among all vehicles in India last year with 96,989 units. Creta’s sales figure is growing even further this year. Between January and April, it sold 49,815 units, up by 248% from the same period in 2020.

Analysts say that because of the often subpar road conditions in India, the local drivers prefer SUVs with tall vehicle bodies like Creta.  

A local media in India reported that the country’s drivers currently must wait for up to nine months before they can get their Creta delivered, due to the chip shortage in the auto industry and the skyrocketing demand for the model.

“Hyundai Creta, while being cheaper than Tata’s Harrier SUV, offers more functions,” said India’s auto magazine CarDekho.

Creta also sold 73,537 units in Russia last year, making it the best-selling model with a 28% share in the country’s small SUV segment. It sold 25,768 units this year between January and April, growing by 29% from the same period in 2020.

Hyundai Motor’s hatchbacks are also gaining popularity in the global market, especially in Europe and India. The automaker’s i20 model sold 60,594 units this year up to April, up by 34% from the same period last year, while i30 sold 27,013 units, up by 13%.

Hyundai Motor’s All New i20 has also won the Indian Car of the Year Award (ICOTY) for 2021.

Kia’s representative small-size vehicles are also thriving. Its compact car Rio’s 2021 global sales up to April grew by 12% from the same period last year, while those of its small SUVs, Stonic and Soul, respectively grew by 12% and 96%.

These three models are setting new sales records in India, South America and Eastern Europe according to Kia.

Write to Hyung-kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com
Daniel Cho edited this article.