Hyundai Venue will be followed by the Kona electric SUV and next-generation Grand i10 among others this year
Hyundai’s biggest volume push of the year comes from the Venue sub-4-metre SUV which made its global debut on April 17 at the 2019 New York Auto Show before entering the domestic market last month with an aggressive starting price of Rs. 6.50 lakh (ex-showroom). The Venue competes in a segment that has seen a yearly growth rate of 20 per cent and to stand out, Hyundai certainly has tricks up its sleeves.
The Venue SUV rivals Maruti Vitara Brezza, Tata Nexon, Ford EcoSport and recently launched Mahindra XUV300. Hyundai has delved deep into new avenues and has introduced the Venue with best-in-class in-car connectivity technologies. Precisely 33 features with the help of the Blue Link system enabling an eSIM card and cloud-based services.
Hyundai currently employs 800 engineers at its Research & Development centre in Hyderabad and 36 of them had joined forces with the brand’s global R&D team for customising in-car connectivity solutions on the Venue. The Blue Link connectivity system offers 10 features specifically made for Indian customers and it won’t be exclusive to the Venue. It will be introduced gradually in the upcoming models as well.
The Korean auto major is said to be developing five more utility vehicles for India over the course of the next two years to strengthen its position in the segments it already has a presence in and explore new spaces. Following the Venue, Hyundai will launch the next generation i20 Active cross-hatch, New Creta and Kona.
The former could arrive only after the debut of the second-gen Elite i20. As we know from previous reports, Hyundai is preparing the Creta with a seven-seater layout and it will have bigger dimensions and more features in its next avatar focussing on a wider band of buyers. The new Creta is expected to reach showrooms later next year.
The 2019 Tucson is said to be offered in five- and seven-seat configurations while a micro SUV rivalling Tata H2X based Hornbill and Mahindra KUV100 is also in the pipeline. This year, Hyundai will launch the Kona EV and facelifted Elantra, and the all-new Grand i10 will see the light by October.