Hyundai India to drive in ‘Venue’ to take on Brezza and Nexon

Hyundai Motor India on Wednesday announced the name of its all-new connected SUV as Venue. Venue, which was earlier codenamed as QXi, is the latest entrant in the Indian compact SUV segment to take on the likes of market leader Maruti’s Vitara Brezza, Tata Nexon, Ford’s EcoSport, M&M’s XUV300.

Hyundai India expect to launch Venue in mid of May 2019. Though the company did not disclose the price of Venue, the compact SUV is expected to be priced at the same price or little over that of Brezza — in the range between Rs 7.6 lakh to little over Rs 10 lakh depending on variants.

According to market sources, the compact SUV segment is the fastest growing segment among PVs and is growing ahead of other segments in India. Its growth is pegged between 25% to 30% with a market potential of 30,000 to 35,000 units a month and with an annual potential of over 4 lakh units. Maruti’s Brezza is averaging a monthly sale of around 14,500 to 15,000 units.

The new sub-4 metre SUV name references a place where people want to be seen, or in this case, inside the vehicle. The Venue symbolises a third space which is trendy, unique, stylish and perfect for Hyundai’s newest connected SUV. Venue will create quality time and ease of life in the third life space of customers by always being connected while they are on the go, the company said in a statement here. Hyundai India expects to position Venue above i20 Active and under Creta, said market sources.

As seen from its latest teaser, the upcoming sub-compact SUV will have a boxy shape like that of Creta with the presence of a sun-roof. It may be noted Hyundai India had showcased Carlino concept at the 2016 Auto Show.

Venue expect to come with host of new features. The connected sports utility vehicle is targeted at new millennials and urban entrepreneurs, the company said further. Venue will have strong family design cues that bear a strong resemblance to its Creta SUV, in a scaled-down version. The design philosophy is exemplified by new headlamps, indicators and the cascading grille. The Venue is likely to get a 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol motor and may also come in 1.2 litre and 1.4 litre petrol/diesel engines.

Hyundai Motor India Ltd.