[TusharK]

Earlier this week, Hyundai launched its third N Line model, the Creta N Line, in India. It is an indication of how these models have gained popularity.



According to the company, over 22,000 units of the Venue N Line and i20 N Line have been sold. N Line models contribute to over 20% of the brand’s overall sales of the turbo-petrol models.

On the sidelines of the Creta N Line launch, Tarun Garg, Chief Operating Officer of Hyundai India, stated that at 13%, women N Line buyers cross the average women buyer consumer base in India’s passenger vehicle market. He added that 82% of N Line buyers prefer the top-spec variant.

Hyundai’s N Line range not only offers a sportier design but also comes equipped with decent performance upgrades. The N Line cars get a stiffer suspension setup, retuned steering and a sportier exhaust.

Source: Autocar India

Link to Team-BHP News

[anshumandun]

Not sure about Venue and Creta but the i20 N line does look sporty and pleasing to the eyes. The red highlights are very well integrated with the overall design and the dual exhausts look good too. It's a head turner for sure and that must be contributing to its sales. The average person does not appreciate stiffer suspension and re-calibrated steering wheel.

Wishful thinking but only if Hyundai would re-tune the N-line cars to make more power and torque at high RPMs to give them a strong topline performance, that would be something!

[furyrider]

On the sidelines of the Creta N Line launch, Tarun Garg, Chief Operating Officer of Hyundai India, stated that at 13%, women N Line buyers cross the average women buyer consumer base in India’s passenger vehicle market.

I would take that with a pinch of salt. A relative of mine recently purchased a Taigun GT on his wife's name (who does not know how to drive a 4-wheeler) since he already had a vehicle registered on his name. I guess this is fairly common across households in India to register a new vehicle on a family member's name to avoid additional road tax.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by furyrider

I would take that with a pinch of salt. A relative of mine recently purchased a Taigun GT on his wife's name (who does not know how to drive a 4-wheeler) since he already had a vehicle registered on his name. I guess this is fairly common across households in India to register a new vehicle on a family member's name to avoid additional road tax.

Like how Polo GT TSi was, i20 N Line & as well as the DCT is a popular second \ third car for affluent families, so that may explain the registrations too.

[shibujp]

Hyundai's N line strategy was and is one of the better attempts made at bringing and sustaining a performance line in India. To me some of the standouts are:

1. Ensuring that they don't go overboard by going the whole hog but concentrating on key areas like suspension, exhaust, engine tuning and exterior differentiators thereby keeping costs in check.
2. Introducing it in a successful products line the i20 and testing the response.
3. Carefully extending it to other product lines like the Venue.
4. Now with the Creta testing out higher price ranges keeping the same formula.
5. A recent master strike has been keeping the manual option exclusive to the N-Line brand for higher output engine variants.

It is an extremely well thought out approach that has paid them dividends. Contrast that with Maruti whose only half baked approach was the Baleno RS where them mucked up the handling and then got cold feet as sales never even got beyond walking pace. As an owner who got a suspension kit on it I know what a wonderful car it was if given the right upgrades.

Volkswagen never has had any performance strategy as such except for some "respect" campaigns and pasting some GT badges on their high output motors.

The only N-Line model I have driven is the Venue and boy was that a riot. Personally I felt that the 1.2 TSI DSG was not a patch on the Venue DCT which has a rifle shot like response. Never a fan of V-dubs DSG tuning especially in traffic and relatively mundane speeds. Another aspect that VW never bothered with was the handling. In my Polo GT 1.6TDI the suspension was too soft to really extract the maximum out of the engine. And in the next 1.5 TDI iteration they slapped the GT badges on a variant that put out a measly 10bhp extra and 30Nm of torque for an outrageous price increase. Sank like a stone. Their best Polo variant in my book was the 1.0L TSI manual which they quickly axed along with the whole Polo line.

Hyundai is a case study on how to introduce and nurture a performance brand in India. While people like me would have spent 25 lakhs on a full fat i20N in India they have done well not to go down the Polo GTI route either and focus on sustainable volumes. Can't wait for the reviews of the Creta N-Line.

Drive on,
Shibu