Hyundai Motor India Ltd. on Friday launched its premium 6 and 7 Seater SUV Alcazar with price starting at INR 16,30,300 (ex-showroom) and going up to INR 19,99,900 (ex-showroom). According to the company, the 3-row debutant SUV has received around 4,000 pre-launch bookings.
Tarun Garg, director – sales and marketing, Hyundai Motor India said, “Bookings for the diesel variant are 55% while the petrol counterpart has garnered 45% bookings. Considering the seating capacity, the SUV has received 60% bookings for 6-seater and 40% bookings for 7-seater.”
“We have not got any booking cancellation request so far but this is only half of the month, we will have to see how the rest of the month pans out,” Garg added, while noting that the company has received a good response for SUVs in the past 10 days. Hyundai opened booking last week for a token amount of INR 25,000.
Going forward, it is yet to be seen if the new Hyundai Alcazar manages to establish itself in the 7-seater category where it will compete with the likes of MG Hector Plus, Tata Safari and Mahindra XUV500. The automaker already offers Creta, Venue, Kona and Tucson SUVs in the booming SUV Indian market.
Back in the calender year 2015, the SUV segment contributed only 13.5% to the overall passenger vehicle sales in India. This number went up to about 26% in the CY2019 & 29% in CY2020.
While the compact SUVs have been the choice of the customers, now the market is slowly graduating towards technological innovations and comfort. Currently, the mid-SUV segment is dominated by Hyundai Creta and sister-brand Kia’s Seltos. Other models in the segment include Maruti Suzuki S-Cross.
Hyundai’s newest offering in the 7 seater segment will come with four powertrain options of 2.0 l Petrol MPi engine (6AT/ 6MT) and 1.5 l Diesel CRDi engine (6AT/6MT). As per Hyundai, Alcazar with 2.0 l Petrol MPi engine (6MT) achieves an acceleration of 0 – 100 km/h in 9.5 Seconds. Further, the petrol engine also offers power of 117 kW (159 PS) / 6,500 r/min. Both 2.0 l Petrol MPi engine and 1.5 l Diesel CRDi engine with 6-Speed Manual Transmission and Automatic Transmissions provide customers with best in segment fuel efficiency.
The automaker claims that the 1.5 l Diesel CRDi engine delivers optimum performance for both city and highway driving pleasure, along with a choice of Drive Mode Select and Traction Control Modes.
| Hyundai Alcazar Price | Prestige | Platinum | Signature | ||
| Petrol | 7 Seater | MT | 16,30,300 | 18,22,300 | – |
| 6 Seater | MT | 16,45,300 | – | 18,70,900 | |
| 6 Seater | AT | 17,93,300 | 19,55,900 | 19,84,900 | |
| Diesel | 7 Seater | MT | 16,53,300 | 18,45,300 | – |
| 7 Seater | AT | 18,01,300 | – | – | |
| 6 Seater | MT | 16,68,300 | – | 18,93,900 | |
| 6 Seater | AT | – | 19,78,900 | 19,99,900 |
*All prices in INR (ex-showroom)
Commenting on the launch, S S Kim, MD & CEO, Hyundai Motor India Ltd. said, “This year we have embarked on a new journey as we complete 25 years of excellence in India. Hyundai has entered a new segment and we aim to redefine premium travel experiences for our customers across the country. Hyundai Alcazar is the personification of our customer’s aspirations, giving them the ability to travel together with family & friends for a happy life and quality time.”
Kim added, “Offering superlative performance, comfort and convenience, Hyundai Alcazar will fortify our leadership position in the SUV segment and perfectly complement our line-up of Venue, Creta, Kona Electric and Tucson. We are confident, Hyundai Alcazar will deliver an inimitable driving experience and set the benchmark yet again.”
Taking the lead
Hyundai Motor India, an automaker which primarily sold hatchbacks and low-priced sedans has been the country’s second largest PV maker since the longest time. However, it has established itself in the SUV segment with Creta model, which has emerged as the highest selling SUV in India since its launch in 2015.
While the company’s market share in the SUV segment was at 11.3% in 2015, it went up to 22.7% and 25.5% in 2019 and 2020 respectively.
Interestingly, as per the latest reports, the country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) is also looking at “some action” in the mid-SUV segment for strengthening its market share in the vertical, in order to keep up its current 50% market share in the overall domestic PV sales. In 2020-21, MSI’s market share in the passenger vehicle (PV) segment was around 51%.
“When you look at the overall picture with the SUV (segment), and that is where I think the issue is, our market share is just 13.2 per cent. Although, we are the market leader by far, as far as the entry SUV (segment) is concerned,” Shashank Srivastava, executive director – sales & marketing, Maruti Suzuki India earlier said.
Hyundai’s fifth offering in the SUV segment will be available in Signature, Signature (O), Prestige, Prestige (O), Platinum, and Platinum (O) variants. It will also offer advanced Blue Link with enhanced voice recognition commands, over-the-air updates, and a boot space of 180 litres behind the third row.
Other features include six airbags (Dual Front + Front Side + Curtain), front & rear parking sensors, blind view monitor and surround view monitor with 360° camera. Alongside, it gets standard safety features like Electronic Stability Control (ESC with VSM), Hill start Assist Control (HAC), rear disc brakes, ECM with Emergency Telematics Function, dual airbags , ABS with EBD, rear parking sensors, automatic headlamps, amongst others.
The South Korean automaker claims that the new SUV comes with Wondor Warranty Options of 5 years/50 000 kms or 4 years/60 000kms or 3 Years/unlimited kms. It will also offer 3 years – road-side assistance, blue link subscription and map updates free of cost to customers.
The new model will be offered in six colour options namely Polar White, Typhoon Silver, Phantom Black, Titan Grey, Starry Night, Taiga Brown and two dual tone colour options of Polar White with Phantom Black and Titan Grey with Phantom Black.
Hyundai’s three-row Alcazar SUV, which was slated for launch on April 29, has been postponed to May 2021 due to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.
