Hyundai Creta Facelift: Bookings open ahead of launch

Hyundai dealers in India are said to be taking bookings for the upcoming, facelifted Creta SUV. The facelifted Creta is weeks away from being launched in the Indian market, nearly 3 years after the SUV was first launched in India during June 2015. The facelifted Creta will therefore be a mid-life intervention by Hyundai to keep the SUV fresh for a couple of years more before an all-new model arrives.

Major changes on the facelifted Creta will be in terms of looks. The front end of the SUV gets a new grille, with a chrome surround. The bumper is new as well. With the facelift, India will receive the South America-spec Creta instead of the Chinese iX25. At the rear, the new Creta will get revised tail lamps and a reprofiled bumper to freshen things up.

A major feature addition to the Creta Facelift will be a sunroof, which will make the SUV the first in its segment to offer such a feature. Indian car buyers are known to pick the sunroof as a must have feature, and full credit to Hyundai for recognizing and catering to this want. The interiors of the facelifted Hyundai Creta could see some sprucing as well, apart from the addition of a few features.

Mechanically, the Creta Facelift is expected to be unchanged. The 1.4 litre and 1.6 turbocharged diesel engines outputting 89 Bhp-220 Nm and 126 Bhp-260 Nm will be carried over, and so will be the 1.6 litre naturally aspirated petrol motor with 122 Bhp-151 Nm. 6 speed manual gearboxes will be standard on all engines, with the larger petrol and diesel motors also getting a 6 speed automatic transmission option.

The Creta is currently India’s best selling compact SUV, with sales averaging between 8,000-10,000 units per month. The facelift is likely to keep the sales momentum going. The facelifted Creta may not see a major price hike considering the fact that the competition in the compact SUV segment is now heating up. Expect the facelifted Creta to start from Rs. 9 lakhs for the base petrol variant.

Via ACI