SUV boom drives Hyundai Venue to 3 lakh unit sales in India

Venue, the sub-four-metre SUV of Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL), has crossed three lakh unit sales in the country since its launch in 2019, the company confirms. Hyundai sold over 2.5 lakh SUVs in 2021, bettering every other player. Creta, its mid-size SUV, was the highest selling SUV in CY 2021 — clocking in sales of 1.15 lakh units. Venue registered sales of 1.08 lakh units — making up 42% of Hyundai’s total SUV sales.

“Hyundai Venue is a proof of customer love for hi-tech and feature packed products,” says Tarun Garg, director, sales, marketing & service, HMIL. Venue was the first Hyundai car offered with Bluelink — Hyundai’s proprietary connected car technology. Since launching the Venue, HMIL has sold nearly 18% of the total units sold equipped with Advanced Bluelink connected car technology. The Venue also debuted HMIL’s intelligent Manual Transmission technology (iMT) — a hybrid transmission which eliminates the use of the clutch but retains the operations of the gear knob.

“The Venue has found buyers as it is well loaded with features like the connected car experience,” Sergius Barretto, managing editor of Autocar India tells Fortune India. Venue also has combinations — both in engines and gearboxes, that include two petrol and one diesel, and three different types of gearboxes.

“Additionally, external factors like the discontinuation of the diesel Brezza has also helped the Venue, as well as the Nexon, garner that market — which while reducing in size is still notable with 30% of Venue sales coming from the diesel segment,” he adds.

Around 70% of Venue’s sales have come from the petrol variant. On the back of a market which no longer identifies itself as a small-car market, Hyundai — with its Venue and Creta, the mid-size SUV — has catapulted itself to becoming the second-largest carmaker in India, only bettered by Maruti Suzuki India Limited. According to figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), 14,89,178 utility vehicles were sold in FY22, whereas 14,67,056 passenger vehicles — including hatchbacks and sedans — were sold in the same period.

Industry observers have indicated that the sub-four-metre SUVs of Venue’s ilk have primarily driven the growth of the entire segment. “The SUV segment demand has been particularly boosted by the advent of the sub-four-metre compact SUV segment, making the SUVs easily manoeuvrable through dense traffic,” Rohan Kanwar Gupta, vice president, corporate sector ratings, ICRA tells Fortune India.

Gupta explains that some of the factors driving the shift in consumer preferences include higher ground clearance and wheelbase aiding drive quality, higher seating position aiding view of the road ahead, ample storage space, etc.