Reference Auto

Hyundai, which has rolled out the Santa Fe SUV at a price tag of over Rs 20 lakh, hopes it will do moderately well in the Indian market, unlike the Terracan and Tucson, which failed to take off.

The Santa Fe comes in two variants, priced at Rs 20.9 lakh and Rs 22.9 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). The company has set a modest sales target of 600-800 units per month.

SUVs in India come in eclectic prices starting from Rs 10 lakh up to Rs 60 lakh. The Santa Fe is in the mid segment. The lower category is dominated by the Tata Safari and Mahindra Scorpio that are priced in the range of Rs 10 lakh.

Ford Endevour and Toyota Fortuner fall in the mid segment, with a price tag of Rs 15-20 lakh and the higher models comprise the Audi Q7, BMW X5 and Mercedes GLClass, which come for around Rs 60 lakh.

The Hyundai Santa Fe is powered by a new 2.2-litre CRDi turbo unit that has 197 horsepower and 422 Nm of torque between 1,800 and 2,500 rpm along with six-speed manual transmission. Fuel economy and CO2 emission are 35.6 mpg and 174 g/km.

There is also the 2.4-litre petrol variant that has 174 hp mated to a manual transmission. Here, there is an option of a six-speed automatic gearbox. The Hyundai Santa Fe can accelerate from zero to sixty in about 10 seconds and has a maximum speed of 190 km/hour.

Local car and SUV sales are likely to surge to 2.4 million this year from 1.95 million. The SUV market also seems to have a persistent demand even in the mid category and the Santa Fe fits in very well

It is estimated that the SUV market has an average sales of 8,000 a month and is rising a whopping 80% annually against the average car market, which is growing at 35%. This is owing to the macho feel an SUV emanates.

Even the luxury end of the SUV market is also witnessing healthy surge, prompting companies like BMW, Audi and Mercedes to beef up in the segment.

High demand has led to waiting periods for some of the models. The Fortuner has been a hit for Toyota and the company sells about 1,000 units of the SUV per month, with a waiting list of five months.

According to Hyundai MD and CEO HW Park, the Santa Fe sold over 20 lakh vehicles since its launch in 2000, and considering the SUV market is hotting up and is somewhat immune to the price, Hyundai can look to push its overall sales much above its moderate estimate of 600 vehicles per month.