[niranjanprabhu]

The Creta and the Seltos twins today own over a whopping 90% of the mid sized SUV segment. What remains to be seen is how massive a dent the arrival of the Volkswagen Taigun and the Skoda Kushaq twins, pose to the Korean domination. With far superior engines and gearboxes (by the Germans), it will all be a function of where the customer will see value. The fact that the Koreans alone are providing a good diesel in this segment may salvage some market share though.
When speaking to a used car dealer who I have known personally for over 15 years, he told me that a 2015 Creta with 1.6 lakh km on board, was purchased by him for 7.75 lakhs, sold to a wholesale dealer in another city for 8.25 lakhs who finally sold it to the final consumer for 8.6 lakhs! This is the demand and amazing used value of this car.

[avira_tk]

Originally Posted by niranjanprabhu

The Creta and the Seltos twins today own over a whopping 90% of the mid sized SUV segment. What remains to be seen is how massive a dent the arrival of the Volkswagen Taigun and the Skoda Kushaq twins, pose to the Korean domination. With far superior engines and gearboxes (by the Germans), it will all be a function of where the customer will see value. The fact that the Koreans alone are providing a good diesel in this segment may salvage some market share though.

... This is the demand and amazing used value of this car.

The VW product is still 4 months away and there is no indication that the ownership experience will be any better. The Koreans offer three engines and four transmission options, what's so superior with the smaller engines and a troublesome gearbox? The diesel is the trump card, it'll be the permanent VAG handicap. The Koreans still have the option to offer lower price automatics and calibrate their trim lines.

I think VW / Skoda will get the pricing wrong. Taking February sales alone, the Koreans have 6 models in the top 20, high volume sales isn't a VW strength and it'll take time to catch up.

[Pashin]

Hyundai knows the pulse of the Indian consumer better than Maruti and how! The Creta initially was a crossover that was desirable to the C segment Buyer as well as the sub 4m crossover buyer. Today it has eaten into D segment cars too. People are preferring the Creta over a Elantra/Corolla/Octavia too. Place it between segments, load it to the gill with features, keep it efficient and easy to drive are some of the things Hyundai has done well with the Creta.

[ABHI_1512]

Every Hyundai product in any and every segment is loaded to the gills. They have brought features to their cars which were hitherto known to be found in cars one segment above. By doing that, they have enticed the average Indian buyer like no other company in India has done.

I have always found Hyundai ASS to be one of the most expensive ones since few friends do own Hyundai cars. Everybody bought the car for the kind of features that their car offers without thinking about other options in the market and I am only talking about my friends here. Even now, a good friend has booked the Creta SX Diesel and one of the prime reason is the huge panaromic sun roof that the car offers.

Hyundai is constantly upgrading/refreshing their products and it is working that way for long. There was a time that they needed a Sharukh Khan to sell their Santro but now that they have cracked the market, they don’t really need to spend on celebrities anymore !!

[curios]

Perhaps the most well-rounded and accurate observations on this car, so far -- couldn't agree more.

Originally Posted by Rocketscience

There are 3 things

1-Aided by lower variants and increase in income of Indians, Creta is the new Santro in my books, hell i know atleast 5 families who drive a Creta and they used to own a Santro 10-15 years ago, people have that kind of money today and this is their default go to choice, atleast in areas i frequent, i have seen a sharp decline in cars costing less than 10 lakhs including hatchbacks and sharp rise in Cretas and Honda Cities, there are atleast 5-10 of these in every street in Rajender Nagar, Patel Nagar, Punjabi Bagh, Paschim Vihar, New Gurgaon.

2-Herd Mentality of Indians, well maybe it is a human thing and global but it is real, no wonder Maruti and Hero Motocop are so successful here.

3-The Car is actually not bad at all, it is a well rounded although overpriced package and with a wide variant spread, it has something for everyone (Basically covers 10-20 lakh space), i have always been a fan of their diesels and i drive the previous gen Creta Diesel too, it rides maturely (not at all like older Hyundais, it is stable and have never felt need for more even when cornering at decent speeds on highways), has great low end/lower midrange power for City and very good for highway too.

Personally i was forced to go with Creta as we hardly had any other options in Jan 2017, today i'll go with either Harrier or Compass, both are D segment products and Creta is a C segment car no matter how they position/market it.

[abhijet.sen]

Originally Posted by niranjanprabhu

The Creta and the Seltos twins today own over a whopping 90% of the mid sized SUV segment. What remains to be seen is how massive a dent the arrival of the Volkswagen Taigun and the Skoda Kushaq twins, pose to the Korean domination. With far superior engines and gearboxes (by the Germans), it will all be a function of where the customer will see value. The fact that the Koreans alone are providing a good diesel in this segment may salvage some market share though.
When speaking to a used car dealer who I have known personally for over 15 years, he told me that a 2015 Creta with 1.6 lakh km on board, was purchased by him for 7.75 lakhs, sold to a wholesale dealer in another city for 8.25 lakhs who finally sold it to the final consumer for 8.6 lakhs! This is the demand and amazing used value of this car.

Volkswagen Taigun and the Skoda Kushaq twins will have negligible impact on Korean twins. Volkswagen and Skoda are notorious for their ASS. Moreover, their pricing may not be as competitive. If price is competitive, they will cut many corners on features. In the end, they will have a limited enthusiasts opting for them and mass market will go to Korean twins.

[rahulananda]

Originally Posted by avira_tk

The VW product is still 4 months away and there is no indication that the ownership experience will be any better. The Koreans offer three engines and four transmission options, what's so superior with the smaller engines and a troublesome gearbox? The diesel is the trump card, it'll be the permanent VAG handicap. The Koreans still have the option to offer lower price automatics and calibrate their trim lines.

I think VW / Skoda will get the pricing wrong. Taking February sales alone, the Koreans have 6 models in the top 20, high volume sales isn't a VW strength and it'll take time to catch up.

Absolutely, the Germans either gets the pricing wrong or gives a product with hardly any features compared to the Koreans. I still remember the days when Polo was launched and the i20 had far more and better features than the Polo.

Saw the Skoda Kushaq walk through online yesterday and honestly I am not that impressed, looks small compared to a Creta or Seltos. If the Kushaq is packaged this way, then Taigun will be no different as well.

[PrasannaDhana]

No offense to anyone who bought the Creta by being impressed with the car it is.

The secret of Creta's success is just herd mentality of the middle class. Oh My colleague bought it, My neighbour has it, my relative is buying it. It must be a nice car. Let me buy it too. That's how it happened with the swift and city in the last decade and with the creta now. The same happens predominantly with the Innova Crysta, with the upper middle class families.

Generally all these cars are pretty reliable (wouldn't include Hyundais in the same league though), good looking and have decent after sales and service. Segment by segment, there have always been better and more deserving cars which went to be flops.

[Artyom]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

No offence to anyone who bought the Creta by being impressed with the car it is.
The secret of Creta's success is just the herd mentality of the middle class. Oh My colleague bought it, My neighbour has it, my relative is buying it. It must be a nice car. Let me buy it too.

Well, I disagree with the reason being when I bought it in 2019 there was no rival in its category.
Especially when it comes to petrol. The venue was new then and too small in terms of space and Ecosport though a good choice Ford ruined it with the shuffling of the features.
The ONLY option left for a petrolhead was the Creta which ticked all the boxes for folks who wanted to buy something above the sub-4-meter segment that too within the 15 lakh range.
Herd mentality is something that is way common when it comes to cars and is not specific to a model because the aspirations and copycat attitude follow pretty much all 4 wheelers.

[SN88]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

No offense to anyone who bought the Creta by being impressed with the car it is.

The secret of Creta's success is just herd mentality of the middle class. Oh My colleague bought it, My neighbour has it, my relative is buying it. It must be a nice car. Let me buy it too. That's how it happened with the swift and city in the last decade and with the creta now. The same happens predominantly with the Innova Crysta, with the upper middle class families.

Generally all these cars are pretty reliable (wouldn't include Hyundais in the same league though), good looking and have decent after sales and service. Segment by segment, there have always been better and more deserving cars which went to be flops.

I agree!!

I have noticed the same. People these days buy cars which everyone around them is buying. They are convinced even before the test drive to be honest.

As many have said, swift suceeded as the "had to have" hatch in the garage, even for the upper middle class it was always the market and college run hatch in the family, similarly it is the creta is the "had to have" "SUV" for the upper middle class. The middle class guy buys it for the "I Have Arrived" factor, the upper middle class guys buy it as one of their cars, the upper Class buys it as an alternative to a hatchback. Very very similar to the swift story back then.

[fhdowntheline]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

No offense to anyone who bought the Creta by being impressed with the car it is.

The secret of Creta's success is just herd mentality of the middle class. Oh My colleague bought it, My neighbour has it, my relative is buying it. It must be a nice car. Let me buy it too. That's how it happened with the swift and city in the last decade and with the creta now. The same happens predominantly with the Innova Crysta, with the upper middle class families.

Generally all these cars are pretty reliable (wouldn't include Hyundais in the same league though), good looking and have decent after sales and service. Segment by segment, there have always been better and more deserving cars which went to be flops.

I think the numbers tell the story. There seems to be a premium on the Creta used models because people tend to retain their cars- there isn't much else to upgrade to frankly, other than a similar sized Compass with a uncertain brand future or a larger but "well-I-am-not-so-sure" Harrier.

And aside from some of the issues mentioned on this forum I have not seen people complaining about their cars on a long term basis.

Another point of view- a customer upgrading to a Creta in his mid-40s will not seek a performance oriented car, say 4-5 years later, as the Creta does the job adequately-he is no more a thrill-seeking driver anyway. The Creta or something-else choice will only happen in the age profiles of early to mid-30s.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by SN88

I agree!!

I have noticed the same. People these days buy cars which everyone around them is buying. They are convinced even before the test drive to be honest.

Is it really the case? Creta was not the first vehicle of its type, it is due to the inadequacy of another product that helped Creta.

In a little over a year from launch the disastrous Renault brand had managed to sell 60,000 dusters. People loved the product and Renault's efforts in marketing it paid off, it has its own fans. But Renault did not continue to invest in the product or their sales or after sales and now Renault is back to square 1.

Swift was Getz done right for Indian market, even today it has no real competition, same with Innova.

[niranjanprabhu]

Originally Posted by avira_tk

The VW product is still 4 months away and there is no indication that the ownership experience will be any better. The Koreans offer three engines and four transmission options, what's so superior with the smaller engines and a troublesome gearbox? The diesel is the trump card, it'll be the permanent VAG handicap. The Koreans still have the option to offer lower price automatics and calibrate their trim lines.

I think VW / Skoda will get the pricing wrong. Taking February sales alone, the Koreans have 6 models in the top 20, high volume sales isn't a VW strength and it'll take time to catch up.

The Taigun and the Kushaq will come in two engine and gearbox options. Both of them superior to what is on offer from Hyundai and Kia
The 1.0 liter turbo charged engine will produce 115 PS which is the same as the 1.5 liter NA engine in the Creta/Seltos but will have a torque rating that is far superior. The 6 speed TQ will any day be more responsive than the the CVT that the Korean twins are endowed with for their lower powered petrol engine.
The 1.5 liter turbo charged engine which is already doing service in the T-ROC is a good 10 BHP more powerful and has 10 NM of higher torque. The DQ200 box had issues almost a decade ago. These have been fixed now and for whatever reasons the DSG gearboxes have had a tough time in India irrespective of who has introduced it. The Seltos has already run into it with their DCT
Yes, the only advantage honestly that the Koreans have is their diesel engine. Given that 60% of their sales are in diesel, what is at risk could be the 40% where I expect them to lose at least 50% of their share to the Germans. I own a 1.4 DCT SXO Creta and having driven the German cars as well, I feel in terms of the finer aspects such as design, durability and finesse, the Germans are light years ahead. What they definitely need to work overtime on is the A.S.S and there I give the Japanese and the Koreans a huge thumbs up

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by niranjanprabhu

The 1.0 liter turbo charged engine will produce 115 PS which is the same as the 1.5 liter NA engine in the Creta/Seltos but will have a torque rating that is far superior.

Personally - I would pick the 1.0 TSi turbo petrol over the 1.5NA of the Creta/Seltos. But on the other hand - what the Koreans offer is a safe option - for those who want to take it easy. A naturally aspirated petrol option + CVT transmission from the Koreans (especially Hyundai) will remain to be the choice for those people who play it safe - especially given VW's reputation.

Originally Posted by niranjanprabhu

The 1.5 liter turbo charged engine which is already doing service in the T-ROC is a good 10 BHP more powerful and has 10 NM of higher torque.

ACI reported 0-100 timings as below -

Seltos 1.4 TGDi DCT - 9.72 seconds.
Creta 1.4 TGDi DCT - 9.81 seconds.
TROC 1.5 TSi DSG - 9.89 seconds.

Hope Kushaq is faster than the TROC - else the advantage is not really translated on the road.

[niranjanprabhu]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

ACI reported 0-100 timings as below -

Seltos 1.4 TGDi DCT - 9.72 seconds.
Creta 1.4 TGDi DCT - 9.81 seconds.
TROC 1.5 TSi DSG - 9.89 seconds.

Hope Kushaq is faster than the TROC - else the advantage is not really translated on the road.

Checked many websites and did not find any that quoted any figure for the T-ROC above 9 seconds. Almost all of them fell in the ballpark of 8.4-8.6 seconds to the ton