Hyundai Venue: Watch it getting unveiled on a ship, off the Indian coast [Video]

A few days ago, Hyundai unveiled its latest vehicle for the Indian market – the Venue compact SUV – on a ship sailing  off the Indian coast. The ship – called the Angriya – is a cruise that operates on the Mumbai-Goa route, and is a good option for those who want to reach Goa from Mumbai overnight. Coming back to the Venue, bookings for the compact SUV will open on the 2nd of May across all Hyundai dealerships in India. The Maruti Brezza-rival will be officially launched in India on the 21st of May. Expectations for the Hyundai Venue are already sky high given the wide feature set and exciting range of engines on offer.

Hyundai claims that the Venue is India’s first connected SUV, and the feature set seems to solidly back this claim.  From remote starting to remote AC operation and a car tracking system, the Venue comes with a range of connectivity options. The compact SUV even has a simcard in it for smartphone connectivity. The Venue will come with a range of firsts for Hyundai, and this is not just limited to the smartphone connectivity features. The SUV will debut Hyundai’s first turbocharged petrol engine for the Indian market, and also the first twin clutch automatic gearbox. It’ll sit below the Creta in terms of price and positioning.

Diving into the engines on offer with the Venue, the top-of-the-line motor will be the 1 liter-3 cylinder  turbocharged petrol with 112 Bhp-172 Nm outputs. This engine will be paired with a 7 speed twin clutch automatic gearbox. Hyundai will also offer a 1.2 liter-4 cylinder petrol engine on cheaper variants. Borrowed from the Hyundai  i20, the 1.2 liter, naturally aspirated petrol motor makes 82 Bhp-114 Nm, and is paired to a five speed manual  gearbox. There will be a diesel engine on offer as well, again borrowed from the i20. The motor in question is a 1.4  liter-4 cylinder turbocharged CRDI unit with 89 Bhp-220 Nm. A six speed manual gearbox will be standard with this  engine. All variants of the Venue will be front wheel driven, and there won’t be an all wheel drive layout on offer, even as an option.

The Venue will arrive into India’s sub-4 meter compact SUV space as a late entrant, and will have plenty of  competition to contend with. The Maruti Brezza will be a chief rival, and Hyundai does not have plans of beating it  in terms of sales. Instead, Hyundai wants to establish the Venue firmly as the second best selling SUV, with targeted  sales of 8,000-9,000 units each month. This also means that Hyundai is estimating that the Venue may sell lesser than  the Creta, or perhaps pull some of the Creta buyers towards it. Other competitors to the Venue in India include the Tata Nexon, Ford EcoSport and Mahindra XUV300.