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Hyundai's Santa Fe to replace Tucson
Making a serious attempt to re-establish itself in the growing sports utility vehicle (SUV) segment, Hyundai Motor India will bring its successful model Santa Fe to India to replace the existing Tucson.
The next-generation Santa Fe has debuted in the US and Europe is likely to come as a completely-built unit (CBU) from Hyundai's Korean plant like Tucson and its predecessor Terracan SUV. The latter was phased out last year owing to declining sales.
Hyundai's Santa Fe is a best-seller in the highly competitive North American market and the rising sales of premium SUVs in India has prompted its possible launch. Sales of sports utility vehicles are expected to grow 25-30% and reach 7,000 units in the fiscal from 4,800 units sold last year. Despite the slowdown in the automobile market, the total utility vehicle market (including SUVs) grew 24% to 59,369 units in April-July.
According to sources in the automobile industry, HMIL is testing a new SUV in India, but the company refused to confirm the development. “There are no immediate plans to launch any SUV. We are focused on our new compact car (code named Pa) and the diesel variant of the premium hatchback Getz. A new SUV model may hit the market mid-2008,” said the Hyundai spokesperson.
According to a source in the automobile industry, HMIL plans to bring in the contemporary second-generation Santa Fe in both manual and automatic versions. It may also bring the new vehicle in both petrol and diesel options. HMIL had faced reverses with its Tucson SUV and sold just 123 units in April-July while its arch-rival Maruti-Suzuki sold 238 units of Grand Vitara in the first month of its launch.
HMIL's proposed SUV will help the Korean company tackle growing competition in the SUV market. General Motors is re-entering the SUV segment with its diesel Captiva while Mitsubishi will roll out Outlander in the domestic market.
Market leader Mahindra & Mahindra is slated to launch the new 2.2-litre Scorpio next year and Skoda Auto will foray with its Roomster model. Livina from Nissan and Megane from Renault will also hit the domestic SUV market in the next few months.
The next-generation Santa Fe has debuted in the US and Europe is likely to come as a completely-built unit (CBU) from Hyundai's Korean plant like Tucson and its predecessor Terracan SUV. The latter was phased out last year owing to declining sales.
Hyundai's Santa Fe is a best-seller in the highly competitive North American market and the rising sales of premium SUVs in India has prompted its possible launch. Sales of sports utility vehicles are expected to grow 25-30% and reach 7,000 units in the fiscal from 4,800 units sold last year. Despite the slowdown in the automobile market, the total utility vehicle market (including SUVs) grew 24% to 59,369 units in April-July.
According to sources in the automobile industry, HMIL is testing a new SUV in India, but the company refused to confirm the development. “There are no immediate plans to launch any SUV. We are focused on our new compact car (code named Pa) and the diesel variant of the premium hatchback Getz. A new SUV model may hit the market mid-2008,” said the Hyundai spokesperson.
According to a source in the automobile industry, HMIL plans to bring in the contemporary second-generation Santa Fe in both manual and automatic versions. It may also bring the new vehicle in both petrol and diesel options. HMIL had faced reverses with its Tucson SUV and sold just 123 units in April-July while its arch-rival Maruti-Suzuki sold 238 units of Grand Vitara in the first month of its launch.
HMIL's proposed SUV will help the Korean company tackle growing competition in the SUV market. General Motors is re-entering the SUV segment with its diesel Captiva while Mitsubishi will roll out Outlander in the domestic market.
Market leader Mahindra & Mahindra is slated to launch the new 2.2-litre Scorpio next year and Skoda Auto will foray with its Roomster model. Livina from Nissan and Megane from Renault will also hit the domestic SUV market in the next few months.
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