With a slew of new SUV launches over the last few years, Hyundai has emerged as the leading SUV maker in India with about 46% of their entire sales coming from SUVs. The Hyundai Creta and the Venue have been the primary contributors to this and the carmaker expects the same with the Alcazar. With the launch of the upcoming Alcazar 7-seater SUV, Hyundai will have a complete SUV portfolio ranging across different sizes and segments. The range starts off with a sub-compact SUV and tops out with the flagship Tucson mid-size SUV. Heck, it even includes an EV in the from of the Kona Electric.
In the recent Hyundai Alcazar prototype media drive event, we caught up with Mr. Tarun Garg, Director of Sales, Service and Marketing, Hyundai India, to know more about Hyundai's SUV strategy in India and the positioning of the Alcazar in our market. With global customer preferences clearly shifting towards SUVs, Mr. Garg said that the entire idea behind Hyundai's SUV strategy for India is to give different kinds of SUVs to different customers. Each of Hyundai's five different SUVs in India are catering to different customer groups at different price points. The variety in powertrain and fuel options is what makes Hyundai's SUV lineup really complete.
Also Read : Upcoming Hyundai Alcazar First Drive Impressions - Video
Speaking on the Alcazar, Mr. Garg said that the idea was to give customers the option to upgrade to a premium SUV who wanted to travel long distances with their entire families. Mr. Garg even believes that the Alcazar will create it's own market in this new three-row mid-size SUV space that is getting more and more popular by the day. As for the specific target audience for the Alcazar, Mr. Garg says it will be aimed at people of the 30-45 age group, with large families, who want to travel long distances together with their families. It will also be aimed as a lifestyle product to people who engage themselves in sporting and outdoor activities. The third row, with the seats folded down, bring in a lot more practicality to carry your outdoor sporting equipment without any trouble.
One of the biggest talking points of the Alcazar is also it's second row of seats. From interior sketch images shared earlier, we know the Alcazar will be offered with the option of captain seats for the second row with an unique floor-mounted arm rest for added comfort. In our brief experience with the Alcazar prototype, we did note that the Alcazar has a very comfortable ride quality, which is even a notable improvement over the Creta. And that brings us to the third group of target audience - people who want to be chauffer driven in style and comfort and yet have the practicality of a third-row of seats for their children. It also must be feature loaded - third-row AC vents, charging points, ample storage, seat back tray tables etc. - all aimed at giving a premium SUV experience.
The Alcazar is based on the same platform as the Creta. It, however, gets its own unique identity with revised styling, unique interior and seating arrangement and it even gets a new powertrain option. Under the hood, the Hyundai Alcazar gets the options of two engines - a 2.0L petrol and the 1.5L diesel engine. The 2.0-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine has been tuned to produce 159PS and 192Nm of peak torque. Hyundai says the Alcazar petrol can sprint from 0-100 kph in less than 10 seconds. The diesel engine has been carried over from the Creta and produces the same 115PS and 250Nm of torque. Both engines come mated to either a 6-speed manual or a 6-speed automatic gearbox. Hyundai is expected to officially launch the Alcazar in our market in the coming weeks and the prices are expected to range between INR 12-20 lakh (ex-showroom).
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