All we hear is SUV ga ga, SUV goo goo? Well, sedans, someone still loves you. And that power of love can be a sizeable shot in the arm when it’s none less than one of the nation’s auto biggies who is reposing its faith in the ol’ favourite.
“The aspiration of every Indian car buyer, for as long as I can remember, has been owning a sedan. For the status conscious Indian, (realising) the dream of owning a big car brings with it satisfaction.”
Saying this, Hyundai India COO Tarun Garg on Tuesday afternoon launched the new generation Verna in the Indian market. The move assumes significance considering the steady change in the car buying trends of Indians in the last few years, which has seen the popularity of small cars (hatchback in auto industry speak) and big cars with a dickie (sedans) wane in front of SUVs.
After all, in recent months, even market leader Maruti Suzuki, which has focused on small cars for far too long, has got on to the SUV bandwagon, launching a spate of new SUV models in recent months. Tata’s aggressive power play in launching new SUV and premium hatchbacks (some of which straddle the grey area between categories to maybe even get passed off as 'compact' SUVs) as well as affordable electric vehicles (EV) had seen it race up the numbers chart, even threatening Hyundai India’s position as the second biggest automobile manufacturer in the country.
The sedan category — once the aspirational car for everyone, had in the process seen its market plummet from around 16% just a few years ago to just 9% in 2021.
Then, something curious happened. European carmaker Volkswagen launched its premium sedan Virtus in the Indian car market in the summer of last year. In quick succession, fellow auto brand Škoda also started delivery of its sedan model Slavia. In fact, the response to Virtus was so high that as much as 150 cars were being delivered during the initial phase.
“Thus, again customer interest went up in sedans,” Amit Daundiyal, Hyundai India’s AVP (group product strategy & planning) told THE WEEK. “What we saw was that those customers who do buy sedans were more settled, had family in mind, and were looking for comfort and space.”
In that backdrop, it is evident that Hyundai is aiming for volume growth with this sedan. With as many as four SUVs in its line-up — including India’s all-time largest selling SUV, Creta, Hyundai already has the SUV market all sewn up. And what better time to train your crosshairs on the sedan market than when everyone’s attention is on SUVs and EVs?
How it helps is in top line growth — while SUV segment may still be up, up and away, sedan as a segment is ripe for plucking. Hyundai’s clever refocus also makes business sense considering how there are barely a clutch of models in the category in India right now — besides Virtus and Slavia, the only other new model launch in the past one year in the market was the launch of the new-generation Honda City. With less competition, Hyundai certainly hopes to take a sizeable share in profit and margins by serenading the sedan.
Daundiyal said as much when he quipped, “(Sedan) segment is again coming up. Don’t just look at the percentage, look at the volume!”
The new Hyundai Verna starts at Rs 10.89 lakh going all the way up to Rs 16.19 lakh for the top model.
